Fireglow Algae
From a distance, a Fireglow Algae colony looks like a mile-wide bloodstain on the ocean surface, iridescent red and shimmering under the equatorial sun. Beneath the floating mat, the colony extends fifty feet deep, a lattice of microscopic organisms that feed on the radioactive contamination saturating the post-Fall ocean. At the center of large colonies, the algae produces a byproduct far more dangerous than itself: white crystalline formations, sharp as bone, that grow in interlocking lattice weaves just below the waterline.
Those crystal structures are the reason sailors treat Fireglow patches as navigational hazards on par with reefs. A ship that cuts through a mature colony risks hull damage from lattice formations that can rip wood and metal alike. Swimmers fare worse. The crystals are invisible from above and razor-edged below, and the patches often extend far wider than the visible red surface suggests.
The algae's other property is what keeps it commercially valuable despite the danger. Coating the skin with living Fireglow provides temporary immunity to radiation, lasting roughly one hour before the organisms die from air exposure. Containers of algae-laden water sell at steep prices to anyone traveling through irradiated zones, and the harvesting trade is brisk among those willing to navigate the crystal hazards to collect the stuff. The algae shares a mutation strain with the crystalline barnacles found on Reef Back Whales, suggesting both organisms emerged from the same post-Fall oceanic contamination.
Those crystal structures are the reason sailors treat Fireglow patches as navigational hazards on par with reefs. A ship that cuts through a mature colony risks hull damage from lattice formations that can rip wood and metal alike. Swimmers fare worse. The crystals are invisible from above and razor-edged below, and the patches often extend far wider than the visible red surface suggests.
The algae's other property is what keeps it commercially valuable despite the danger. Coating the skin with living Fireglow provides temporary immunity to radiation, lasting roughly one hour before the organisms die from air exposure. Containers of algae-laden water sell at steep prices to anyone traveling through irradiated zones, and the harvesting trade is brisk among those willing to navigate the crystal hazards to collect the stuff. The algae shares a mutation strain with the crystalline barnacles found on Reef Back Whales, suggesting both organisms emerged from the same post-Fall oceanic contamination.
