The work of art Red Tide was created by Robyn Glade-Wright in 2016. Red Tide laments a massive fish kill caused by an algal bloom surrounding Chiloé island in 2016. Glade-Wright drew dead salmon with conte crayon on a large plastic buoy (80 x 80 x 130 cm) that had been washed up on a Queensland beach.
A red tide consists of an algal bloom that turns the water red and is toxic to marine life. It also renders seafood toxic for human consumption. Algal blooms are a common, naturally recurring phenomenon in southern Chile, but the extent of the 2016 outbreak was unprecedented. The red tide caused the death of 100,000 tons of salmon and killed tons of shellfish that were wash up on southern beaches. The bloom was also a factor in the mass beaching of whales and sea lions. The red tide paralysed the fishing industry, which was the mainstay of many coastal settlements. It was one of the major socio-ecological crises in Chilean history.
Red Tide is currently on show in the Greenfields Art Gallery, Sculpture Garden.
