Chances are if you live in the Golden State you've already seen photos of beautiful neon blue waters taking over your Instagram feeds these past few weeks. But here's something you probably didn't know about. The bioluminescence in California is actually turning local beaches into massive stink bombs you can smell from miles away. “The smell is because the red tide is breaking down,” said Michael Latz, a San Diego biologist of Scripps Institution of Oceanography told the Los Angeles Times. Now that the ocean's light show is ending, it's leaving a mess in its wake and it's all thanks to red tide (algal blooms). What's causing this smelly disaster? The Los Angeles Times said that red tides occur phytoplankton that cause bioluminescence rapidly reproduce (aka bloom). That's when they turn the seawater rusty brown. When the beautiful blue from their photochemicals dies out, it leaves the smell of rot and decay along shores for miles. Latz went on to say, "You put it all together and you have the breakdown of the red tide producing odors, and the bacteria producing odors, and it makes it very stinky.” View this post on Instagram Saw this beauty last week and imagined what it'd be like getting pitted in that red tide wave 🏄🏻♂️ A post shared by Jose (Roman) Gramajo (@gramajose_) on May 7, 2020 at 8:26pm PDT He even said he could smell it from a mile and a half inland! Is the stink from red tide dangerous to humans? In some cases, yes. Latz noted that the red tide decay can produce nonpoisonous toxins that are harmful to both sea creatures near it and people, too. View this post on Instagram •Newport Beach Bioluminescence• I’m sorry if you’re tired of seeing all these videos of bioluminescence but they’re just too cool not to share! @markgirardeau and I have been nonstop looking for different places the Bioluminescence might show up and this particular night we were surprised with it being in the Newport Harbor. I was amazed at how bright the water got just by walking through it. A few clips in Mark walks around in it and you can see all the fish scattering with those bursts of blue light! The last clip is just me moving the water around with my hand watching it glow and smiling like crazy. Let me know which clip is your favorite! Also be on the look out for more Dolphin footage because we ended up getting some more. 😉 A post shared by Patrick Coyne (@patrickc_la) on May 4, 2020 at 8:17pm PDT Some people sensitive to it could potentially develop skin rashes or respiratory irritation, he said. The Orange County Register reports that the beauty of the bioluminescence originally came down to California from Baja, Mexico. View this post on Instagram •Bottlenose Dolphins Swimming in Bioluminescence• Can you believe this is actually the first time I’ve seen Bottlenose Dolphins out on the water? I went out again with @newportcoastaladventure and we scored! This time with a different species of Dolphin and one I hadn’t seen out in the wild before. Crazy right? I again can’t express how excited and happy this experience made me. Seeing it twice now is absolutely a dream come true. A post shared by Patrick Coyne (@patrickc_la) on May 5, 2020 at 8:38pm PDT It's now fading off of local shores. If you've had the chance to see it, you can count yourself as one of the lucky ones. It usually occurs once every few years. * The cover photo was used for illustrative purposes only.