Summer 2026 Pistachio Tide Events

General Timeline for July

Before, in the early month of June, older disc racks from January 2026 were highly colonized and very biodiverse.

July 1 - July 4: Heat Wave, Biofilm disc communities' biodiversity peaked.

July 4 - July 8: Back-to-back Thunderstorms

Sulfur bacteria bloom started around July 8th. Extremely low dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll levels, dropping to 0% saturation on some days. For many days, counts were unable to be conducted without some recovery.

July 13: Most recent or last biodiversity count for the discs. Biofilm disc communities' biodiversity was at its lowest.

July 15: Highly anoxic conditions persisted. Racks were retrieved and cleansed.

Blooms prolonged throughout the weeks and started recovering around July 20th with less rainy days and extreme weather. The green, pistachio-like waters started to fade. Racks were redeployed July 20th.

July 28: Thunderstorm occurred right after some progress on recovery.

July 30: A second wave of a sulfur bacteria bloom (or pistachio tide event) is underway.

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