Red Tide at Eastons Beach

At one of the beaches where we found the mermaid purses, we saw red water. The waves were wine colored. Red pieces of algae floated in the water and covered the sand. Where the red weed lied on the beach, little flies flew in clouds above it. We didn't walk in the red water but a few yards up the beach the water and sand were clear. A big machine went by a few yards into the water as we were walking. We could see where the machine had already combed the entire beach. Tire tracks and fluffed up sand lay in straight rows. We weren't sure what was going on but it looked like the machine scooped up the top layer of sand and some of the sand shook out the bottom. Later we asked a born and raised Newporter about it. He explained that there is a reef off shore that grows a red algae. When the wind is right, the red algae is blown toward shore. Beside the unsightly red color and unpleasant odor, certain biting fleas and chiggers live in that algae. So the city bought a very expensive machine to clean up the red algae. Now the city of Newport struggles to solve where to put all the truckloads of red algae and sand.