Sea foam, ocean foam, beach foam, or spume is a type of foam created by the agitation of seawater, particularly when it contains higher concentrations of dissolved organic matter derived from sources such as the offshore breakdown of algal blooms.
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Sea foam is formed under conditions that are similar to the formation of sea spray.
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Physical processes that contribute to sea foam formation are breaking surface waves, bubble entrainment, and whitecap formation.
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Composition of sea foam is generally a mixture of decomposed organic materials, including zooplankton, phytoplankton, algae, bacteria, fungi, protozoans, and vascular plant detritus, though each occurrence of sea foam varies in its specific contents.
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In some areas, sea foam is found to be made up of primarily protein, dominant in both fresh and old foam, as well as lipids and carbohydrates.
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Additional research has shown that a small fraction of the dry weight in sea foam is organic carbon, which contains phenolics, sugars, amino sugars, and amino acids.
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Organic matter in sea foam has been found to increase dramatically during phytoplankton blooms in the area.
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Structurally, sea foam is thermodynamically unstable, though some sea foam can persist in the environment for several days at most.
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Additionally, seawater that contains released dissolved organic material from phytoplankton and macrophytic algae that is then agitated in its environment is most likely to produce stable, longer-lasting foam when compared with seawater lacking one of those components.
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Longer decay times result in a higher chance that energy contained in sea foam will move up the food web into higher trophic levels.
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Additionally, sea foam can become airborne in windy conditions, transporting materials between marine and terrestrial environments.
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When sea foam contains fungi, it can aid in the decomposition of plant and animal remains in coastal ecosystems.
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Additionally, sea foam is a habitat for a number of marine microorganisms.
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Naturally occurring sea foam is not inherently toxic; however, it can be exposed to high concentrations of contaminants in the surface microlayer derived from the breakdown of algal blooms, fossil fuel production and transport, and stormwater runoff.
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Studies suggest that the development of foam is directly correlated to blooms caused by P globosa, despite that foam formation typically occurs approximately two weeks after the appearance of an algal bloom offshore.
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One study showed a much greater abundance of heterotrophic prokaryotes and cyanobacteria in Sea foam that was generated near a liquified natural gas terminal.
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