Skip to main content
Dictionary
Store
Blog
World
Help
Advertise
Chat
System Status
Information Collection Notice
Trademark Concerns
reCAPTCHA Privacy
Terms of Service
reCAPTCHA Terms
Privacy Policy
Accessibility
Report a Bug
Data Request
Contact Us
Security
DMCA
© 1999–2026 Urban Dictionary ®
Mugs
Tees
Hoodies
Pro Customization
Create unique products with your own words and definitions
Preview
Personalize Your Design
Your Word
Your Definition
A proliferation of a marine plankton toxic and often fatal to fish, perhaps stimulated by the addition of nutrients. A tide can be red, green, or brown, depending on the coloration of the plankton. A proliferation or bloom of a certain type of plankton with red to orange coloration, that often causes massive fish kills. Though they are a natural phenomenon, blooms are believed to be stimulated by phosphorus and other nutrients discharged into waterways by man. Sea water which is covered or discoloured by the sudden growth of algal bloom or by a great increase in single-celled organisms, dinoflagellates. Red tides are often fatal to many forms of marine life and, in some cases, can result in human deaths because the dinoflagellates are eaten by clams and mussels which concentrate the paralysing toxins which they produce.
Text fits
Save
Cancel