In the wake of Nicole: Floridian winter wonderland?

In the wake of Nicole, now a Tropical Depression, massive amounts of sea foam have washed ashore, creating what looks like snow!

It might be winter, but that is certainly not snow you are seeing in St Augustine, Florida right now, but rather sea foam. Sea foam is created by the agitation of sea water, churned by strong winds and waves.

Water from the sea contains loads of tiny particles such as dissolved salts, proteins, fats, dead algae, pollutions and plenty more. Because of the presence of this matter, both organic and artificial, if you were to vigorously shake a small amount of this water in a glass, bubbles would form on its surface.

Algal blooms in particular, are one of the most common sources of sea foam. When algae decays, great amounts of decaying, organic matter wash ashore, which in turn forms this foam.

This is how sea foam forms in a nutshell, but in this instance, on a much larger scale from strong winds and waves in the wake of Nicole.