Katherine Bickford

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 from sources such as algal blooms.

These compounds can act as surfactants or foaming agents. The surfacants break the surface tension, which in turn allows air to more easily mix with water allowing the formation of stabilized bubbles of gases trapped in water.

Due to its low density and persistence, foam can be blown by winds and moved by the tide.

Only 1 percent of the foam you see on a water body is the actual foaming agent; the rest is air and water.