No, we're not referring to Donald Trump at the seaside, but to the appearance of an orange floating substance of the beaches of the Axarquía.

The orange-coloured streaks on the surface of the sea are caused by the floration of microalgae, which is harmless and completely natural; i.e., it is not pollution.

The first reports on the coast of the Axarquia was on Wednesday, when sitings, from Nerja to Rincón de La Victoria, caused many complaints from bathers.

The skiffs charged with clearing float rubbish from the sea along this part of the coast, Servimar, had their work cut out for them, attempting to disperse/dissolve it, explained the company manager, Manuel Rivas. Back on land their office telephones never stopped ringing.

The biologists working with the Aula del Mar, Jesús Bellido and Juan Jesús Martín explained that in 2017 a study on samples was carried out by Emasa and that it normally appears in spring or the beginning of summer, brought on by a change in sea temperatures.

Contrary to what some people believe, it has nothing to do with fish eggs from whitebait – they’re not even fish eggs at all – what they are is brown algae, which is a type of dinoflagellates organism. OK, that doesn’t explain a lot, but what it is not is harmful. However gargling with the stuff could cause you to glow in the dark, stalk your own goldfish and snarl at fishing boats.

(News: Axarquia, Costa del Sol, Malaga, Andalucia – Photo/Source: E. Cabezas)