Phaeocystis globosa

You may have never heard of Phaeocystis, but if you ever take a walk along the beach in late spring or summer and see lots of foam along the waterline, you are looking at these one-celled algae. No wonder it's nicknamed foam algae. Phaeocystis is brown and slimy. Lots of people mistake the brownish foam as pollution. However, it is a natural phenomenon. After the algae have died (blossomed), the wind and waves whip it up into foam. The foam is eventually degraded by bacteria.