Plankton Bloom

[John Gulliver]

Originally Posted by Lou

Plankton bloomis supposed to be daylight driven, rahter than water temp driven so the high levels of early sunlight are more likely to be responsible for the early bloom.

Correct! That's certainly the case in my home waters (west coast of Sweden). Our first plankton bloom usually occurs in February/March, when the days start getting longer although the temperature in the sea can be as low as zero Celsius.

[String]

Originally Posted by resting rifleman

fwiw could this be 'fallout' from the ship that sank full of nitrates last year in the channel?
of course it could just be that there aint any fish left to eat the plankton
mike.

Doubt it, my dive area is west wales/irish sea and we're seeing the same (or not seeing in this case!). I think its the unheard of sunny weather doing it.

Normal service may have resumed now though - pissing down with wind so diving cancelled.

[siltmonkey]

I definitely remember people calling it the 'June bloom', and that's down at Littlehampton in Sussex. Maybe because it sort of rhymes?

:-)

r