An experiment at a San Diego beach is turning the seawater pink, temporarily, in the name of science.
This winter, researchers at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the University of Washington are leading a pink-hued dye experiment, titled Plumes in Nearshore Conditions, or PiNC, to study how small freshwater outflows interact with the surfzone.
Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the project is focused on the estuary and surrounding coastline at Los Peñasquitos Lagoon, located within Torrey Pines State Beach and Natural Reserve in San Diego, Calif. The first of three dye releases began on January 20, with the remaining releases taking place in early February 2023.
Read more at: University of San Diego
Pink waves at Torrey Pines State Beach during the first dye release for the PiNC experiment, Jan. 20, 2023. (Photo Credit: Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego)