The famous African river Nile turned red in the last few hours. The event surprised everyone on social networks, where users associated the phenomenon with biblical passages about the plagues that hit the region and the water that turned into blood.
Being the longest river on the African continent, covering and connecting ten countries such as Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia, this strange color of water frightened the inhabitants of the countries, who were shocked when they saw the water with reddish tones.
After this curious event, social media users began to make this phenomenon viral and investigate the reasons that led the water to change its crystalline color.
Some of the first speculations were based on biblical passages about plagues that struck around the Nile River and turned the entire flow of water into blood.
As users recalled, verse 17 found in chapter 7 of Exodus in the sacred text, Moses (prophet of Judaism) struck the Nile River with his staff and that caused the water to turn into blood.
“Thus says the Lord: ‘By this you will know that I am the Lord: Behold, I will strike the water that is in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and it will become blood,’” it is added in the sacred scriptures. .
In the same text, but in verse 21, it was indicated: “Likewise, the fish that were in the river died; and the river became corrupt, so much so that the Egyptians could not drink of it; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.”
On the other hand, specialists in maritime issues began to observe the day-to-day events and came to the conclusion that the proliferation of an organism could have been a predominant factor for the water to radically change color.
According to experts, the event could have occurred due to the proliferation of red algae. These types of organisms contain toxins and accumulate in shellfish and can poison the animals that consume them. In turn, they produce vapors that, if spread into the air, cause respiratory problems.
According to biologist Cindy Fernández García, from the Center for Research in Marine Sciences and Limnology of Costa Rica: “This phenomenon is mainly produced by two groups of microalgae: diatoms and dinoflagellates. These microorganisms are part of phytoplankton, the main food of the sea, since many species feed on them,” she told Ecuavisa.
In turn, they indicated that these plants contain toxins in their organisms and can be dangerous for the animals that live in the area, to the point that they could poison them.
“This type of algae is present in rivers and deep seas because its pigments are supplied by sunlight that penetrates the water. Once the pigments absorb blue light and reflect red light, they convert to show their characteristic reddish color,” the biologist deepened.
