Summer blooms at last, but so do the beaches

By ANNE BESTON

Summer arrived with a vengeance over the weekend, sending city-dwellers flocking to the beach, although some were to be disappointed.

Long slicks of red, jelly-like algal bloom have invaded parts of the Hauraki Gulf, washing up on beaches and causing havoc for some tourist operators and divers.

Goat Island marine reserve glass-bottomed boat operator Ivan Blackwell was so fed up with the red jelly he abandoned ship for the weekend.

"It's driving us nuts, the whole cove is full of this red goo," he said. "As you look out towards Little Barrier, you just see oceans and oceans of red."

The Noctiluca scintillens algal bloom reduces visibility to about a hand's length, disappointing the hundreds of people who turned for diving and swimming at the reserve on Saturday and Sunday.

Goat Island-based Auckland University marine biologist Dr Russ Babcock said the bloom had been formally identified as a harmless Noctiluca bloom.

"It still hasn't dispersed out there, it's very conspicuous," he said.

Auckland Regional Council pollution officer Eddie Grogan said the bloom had also invaded Omaha Beach and appeared to be thickest around the Cape Rodney area.

It would eventually begin to die and sink to the ocean floor, although it was still multiplying rapidly in places and looked a bit like streaks of "thick pink instant pudding", he said.

But most beachgoers simply enjoyed the first real weekend of summer, which bathed most of the country in sunshine. The South Island even out-did the North Island temperature-wise: Dunedin reached 24C on Saturday afternoon and Alexandra sweltered in the highest-recorded temperature, 30C.

Auckland, Hamilton, Wanganui and Wellington all reached low-to-mid 20 degrees C on Saturday, but Wellington fell back to 18C yesterday.

Meanwhile. the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research confirmed November was an extension of an unseasonably chilly October. It brought high winds, thunderstorms, frost and temperatures well below average. Mean temperatures were 1.5C below normal in many parts of the country. Gore recorded November's lowest mean temperature since records began in 1972.

But now summer is here, it is set to stay for a few days.

Mr Bob Lake said the forecast was for generally settled weather over most of this week, although some areas, especially the east coast of both islands, would be cloudy and have scattered showers.

By Friday, a front moving over New Zealand from the Tasman Sea, would bring rain and northerly winds.

Herald feature: Environment