by The Curious Scribbler

I picked up a copy of EGO today, and it’s nice to see that they have now resumed an albeit thinner  paper copy after three years of covid hardship banished it to an online presence only.  However the article by Priya Nicholas caught my attention for its inappropriate sentiments.  The writer complains about the unpredictability of summer weather and the need for layers and an umbrella.  This  demonstrated the problems of writing copy for a future deadline and seems a little inappropriate when we haven’t seen a serious cloud for the better part of a month!

My walk along the promenade however raised a new topic to complain about.  The sky was blue, the sea was calm with only the tiniest of lapping waves upon the shingle, but the sea was murky and downright brown.  From pier to the bar there was no respite, the pebbles barely visible in the shallows.  Few people were in the water, – I’ve seem more wild swimmers in the middle of winter.

So in the afternoon I went to Tanybwlch, where during the fine hot spell last August I remember the sea like the Mediterranean, so clear the pebbles and patches of sand gleamed clearly under water.

10 August 2022 the sea was clear at Tanybwlch

Today it was just brown.

Brown sea water at Aberystwyth

As I walked out on the jetty the river water in the harbour was clean and clear while at the end of the jettty the colour contrast was dramatic where greenish-brown sea water met the clear fresh water in the harbour mouth.

Below the jetty on the harbour side the sea and river water meet

Presumably this May – June warm spell has caused an algal bloom which is creating the murk right along the coast and out to sea.  Why the same thing didn’t also happen during last summer’s August warm spell is not clear to me.

Tanybwlch beach this afternoon 8 June 2023

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