To find out if this is true, we should test again when the Red Tide is no longer present at the pier, and decide by looking at the data if there is a correlation between Nitrate levels, and the Red Tide. Nitrite levels test fairly low, averaging .13ppm. Nitrite was in between Ammonia and Nitrate. We feel that the reason why Nitrite tested this way is because the water column is in the first stage of the nitrogen cycle. The nitrogen cycle is a three stage biological occurrence that works to break down detritus and other matter, into usable fertilizers for plants, and phytoplankton.
Ammonia is the first product of the cycle.
In this stage, the first stage, Ammonia will peak, and then slowly decrease. As the Ammonia is broken down, it is changed into Nitrite. As more Ammonia is broken down, more Nitrite is produced, causing the levels of Nitrite to increase. As we can see by the data, Nitrite is still low, so the water column is still in the first stage of the cycle. But we can predict by the levels of Nitrite in the water column that stage two is about to begin.