Red Tide Spotted in China's Bohai SeaA red tide covering 350 sq m, was monitored in the western area of Liaodong Bay in China's Bohai Sea, after large red tides had been spotted in the South and East China seas since May.The red tide, which occurred on July 12, was centered at 40.23 degrees north latitude and 121.56 degrees east longitude, according to the State Marine Environment Monitoring Center. Experts warned that China has entered the season of the outbreak of red tides, and it is urgent to take measures to prevent and control them. Sea pollution must be checked, they said. China's State Oceanic Administration has called on the coastal areas to strengthen their round-the-clock monitoring against red tides, which kill fish and other organisms in sea waters. Experts predict that about 20 to 30 red tides occur this year in China's coastal sea waters, and aqua-cultural and sewage discharge areas as well as ports are listed as the most vulnerable regions. A red tide is a dense population of aquatic microscopic organisms that breed in the abundance of salt in surface water. The micro-organisms appear in most of the world's waters, and most are harmless. However, some single-cell organisms produce a poison that paralyzes and kills fish. These organisms may also suffocate fish by consuming nearly all the oxygen in the water. According to experts, red tides are mainly caused by pollution from the land and large-scale fish farming in coastal waters, which produce too much nitrogen and phosphorus. China has experienced an increasing number of red tides off the coast since the 1990s, due to increasing pollution caused by industrial waste water, according to a recent report issued by the State Oceanic Administration. China has registered more than 200 red tides in the past decade. A total of 45 large-scale red tides occurred between 1997 and 1999, causing direct economic losses of 240 million U.S. dollars. |
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