Rain blood dyed red lake of Spain

Residents of some northwestern Spanish villages discovered that the water in the reservoirs suddenly turned dark red like blood due to a micro-algae that appeared in the rain.

The lake turns red due to micro-algae that appear in the rain

Live Science reported that the incident happened last fall. At that time, no one knew what caused the clean water reservoirs to have such color. Speculations blame aircraft waste or pandemic in the Bible. Joaquín Pérez, a resident of the area, decided to collect rainwater samples to find out the reason.

Water in a low-lying area at Fuente Encalada, Spain, dyed red due to Haematococcus pluvialis algae after the rain.(Photo: Joaquín Pérez).

According to the Spanish Association of Science and Technology, for several consecutive months, Pérez collected specimens and focused his attention on the water-stained element. He sent samples to researchers at the University of Salamanca, Spain. They confirmed that the rain of blood contained a tiny freshwater algae called Haematococcus pluvialis , which produced red pigments under pressure. The team published the findings in the journal of the Spanish Royal Society of Natural History.

Scientists were surprised to see H. pluvialis, an algae common in parts of the northern hemisphere such as North America and the coastline of Europe's Atlantic Ocean but not in this area of Spain."They must have come from elsewhere," said geologist Javier Fernández-Lozano, co-author of the study. Analysis of weather data indicates H. pluvialis algae, which can be winds brought to western Spain.