Why Are Scientists Dyeing the Ocean Pink?

Why is the ocean — and this team of researchers — looking pretty in
pink? For science! Scientists at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution
of Oceanography have launched the PiNC (Plumes in Nearshore
Conditions) experiment to study the coastal zone where a river
meets the ocean. Using a non-toxic, environmentally safe pink dye
and a suite of instruments, researchers released the dye in the
mouth of the Los Peñasquitos Lagoon at Torrey Pines State Beach
near San Diego, California in the winter of 2023. Rivers and
estuaries play an important role in delivering freshwater and
materials such as sediments and contaminants to the coastal ocean,
but little is known about how these plumes of more buoyant, fresher
water interact with the denser, saltier and often colder nearshore
ocean environment, particularly as the plumes encounter breaking
waves. This experiment enables scientists to track the processes
that take place when small-scale plumes of freshwater meet the
surfzone. Series: "Scripps Institution of Oceanography" [Science]
[Show ID: 38739]