These aren’t exactly images of the sort of tropical beach you might want to hang out at, it looks more like the bog of eternal stench. But this Chinese algae jungle has become a bit of a tourist hot spot for the locals. They say that the algae is healing and refreshing for the skin. Maybe it is, but I bet it isn’t. It looks gross.
Zhanqiao Pier, Qingdao in the eastern Shandong province is the home of this other worldly vacation spot. Farmers using an excess of fertilizer have been blamed for the unprecedented algal blooms of the algae Enteromorpha prolifera. The site hosted the volleyball and sailing for the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and took 10,000 volunteers to clear. Since then it’s simply returned with a vengeance.
The algae basically chokes all of the rest of the marine life in the sea. But the humans are having a lovely time…
More mad pictures and an insane video of the beach from the air on the next page…
It makes my toes curl thinking about walking on all this bogey lookin’ gross stuff…
Locals wear “facekinis” to stave off sun burn, with the added bonus of looking absolutely excellent.
There is an estimated 10 tonnes of this green algae, otherwise know as sea lettuce, on this beach. Another brilliant thing about this semi-natural disaster is that when it begins to rot, this enteromorpha prolifera produces hydrogen sulphide, a toxic gas. Lucky holiday makers.
But most importantly, as far as I’m concerned, the pictures are brilliant. Here’s a lovely video of the mess:
More pictures on next page…
The bloom in 2013 double previous records. The algae covered an area the size of Connecticut!
Although the algal blooms have smashed the guts out of local fisheries, the stuff can be turned into renewable energy or used as fertiliser so hopefully it won’t go entirely to waste. The clean up operation cost millions.
