

In fact, if you find yourself with a nasty case of conjunctivitis - pink eye - mixing up a little homemade saline solution of non-iodized salt and water to help flush your aggravated eyes can help clear up symptoms. Since our bodies are actually producing a salty solution to lubricate our eyes, the mixture of salt and water is inherently something we're relatively biologically accustomed to. Have yourself a good cry at a sappy romantic comedy or spectacular joke and you'll taste the distinctly salty flavor of your own tears. But is saltwater irritation bad for the eyes? It's impressive on screen, but for anyone who's ever taken a trip to the sea, the amazing thing isn't so much the underwater running, but that they're doing it with their movie-star looks and eyes wide open.Īfter being unexpectedly pounded by a breaker or splashed by a troublemaking sibling any oceangoing swimmer knows that saltwater in the eyes can produce a mighty sting, sometimes right up there with the chlorinated water in backyard swimming pools. Or, to build lung capacity, they're holding some giant stone and running along the sandy bottom of the big blue ocean. This led to the onset of fatal hypothermia in many birds.There's a popular scene in movies and television featuring surfers when the muscled hero (or heroine) is training Rocky Balboa-style for the eventuality of being held under by a wave. Scientists studying the cause of a seabird die-offs off California in 2007 and in the Pacific Northwest in 2009 also found a soap-like foam from a decaying Akashiwo sanguinea algae bloom had removed the waterproofing on feathers, making it harder for birds to fly. The resulting aerosol can irritate the eyes of beach goers and poses a health risk for those with asthma or other respiratory conditions. Along Gulf coast beaches during blooms of Karenia brevis, for example, popping sea foam bubbles are one way that algal toxins become airborne. But when large harmful algal blooms decay near shore, there are potential for impacts to human health and the environment.

Most sea foam is not harmful to humans and is often an indication of a productive ocean ecosystem.

Foam forms as this organic matter is churned up by the surf. When large blooms of algae decay offshore, great amounts of decaying algal matter often wash ashore. Each coastal region has differing conditions governing the formation of sea foams.Īlgal blooms are one common source of thick sea foams. Sea foam forms in this way - but on a much grander scale - when the ocean is agitated by wind and waves. If you shake this glass of ocean water vigorously, small bubbles will form on the surface of the liquid. Seawater contains dissolved salts, proteins, fats, dead algae, detergents and other pollutants, and a bunch of other bits and pieces of organic and artificial matter.
#Colorful wave surfers puffy full
If you scoop up some water from the ocean in a clear glass and look at it closely, you'll see that it's chock full of tiny particles.
