Last week, a stretch of water in and around New York Harbor had a reddish-brown color that was believed to be red tide algae. However, officials on Thursday said that it was not red tide and it was actually harmless, according to a report by the New York Times. The 10-mile-long stretch of algae was probably the nontoxic phytoplankton Mesodinium rubrum, according to New Jersey officials.
“Red tide is a term frequently used to refer to toxic phytoplankton blooms,” the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said. “However, most algae blooms with a reddish hue are not toxic.”
New York officials, however, say that they are unsure as to what the algae is. “We did not see any of the red algae that was titled Mesodinium rubrum,” an agency spokesperson said.
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