Churned water, green to brown

I was up on the bridge today to see a boat go under, but I ended up seeing something more interesting.

It began when Adam and I crossed the Huntington East End bridge over the Ohio River. The Ohio itself was green from algae, but the Guyandotte River, which flows into the Ohio just below the bridge, was brown from mud it carried from recent storms. It was interesting to see the dividing line between Guyandotte River water and Ohio River water.

We went ahead on down to the 6th Street Bridge so we could watch the towboat Leonard L. Whittington pass under downbound. We watched and photographed it, but then I noticed something. The water churned behind the Whittington was mud brown, like the Guyandotte River water. So the curious side of me got to wondering how deep the algae layer was on the surface of the Ohio River. And it wondered how much time would elapse before the water turned green again.

But we had to get to the store to buy groceries, and we couldn't wait. Too bad.