In late summer and autumn of 2007, red tides were present in two prominent bays of the southern Benguela upwelling system, False Bay and St. Helena Bay. In False Bay, the dinoflagellate Gonyaulax polygramma attained concentrations of 20 x 106 cells l-1 and posed a serious environmental threat through bloom decay and anoxia. In St. Helena Bay, the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella reached concentrations of 5 x 105 cells l-1 and posed a threat to human health by rendering shellfish highly toxic. Multiscale observations obtained from coastal monitoring stations, ship-based transects, and aircraft and satellite remote sensing were used to identify the scale and physical forcing of these blooms, which appear to be localized manifestations within adjacent subsystems of the southern Benguela upwelling region.

Pitcher, G.C., S. Bernard, and J. Ntuli. 2008. Contrasting bays and red tides in the southern Benguela upwelling system. Oceanography 21(3):82–91, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2008.39.

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