FL - Red Tide and toxicity to marine life in SW Florida

[MaryG12]

Hope I am posting this in the proper place if not please move to appropriate forum, mods.

The facts about Florida red tide, your questions answered

Dead manatees, thousand of decaying fish on Sarasota beaches and an alarming number of deceased sea turtles washing up on shore; these are the images of red tide here on the Suncoast.

..........................

Even the air smells weird, decaying plant matter.

My workplace is not far from Siesta Key Beach (about five minutes away) and it's really bad.

 

[SeesSeas]

To avoid the stink. . . a good link to keep handy:
Red Tide - Statewide Status
Red Tide Current Status
Midweek Red Tide Status Map (August 1, 2018)

 

[SeesSeas]

Getting worse -
Lingering Red Tide bloom moves north, killing fish near mouth of Tampa Bay
ANNA MARIA ISLAND — A Red Tide algae bloom that has already been called the worst in a decade spread north over the weekend, reaching this Manatee County community near the mouth of Tampa Bay.

On Monday, clumps of dead fish floated amid the mangroves lining the approach to the Cortez Road bridge to Anna Maria Island, southeast of Egmont Key. Meanwhile at Holmes Beach, another community on Anna Maria, the police appealed via Facebook for volunteers to help them clean up the dead sea life that was washing ashore, offering to provide "masks, gloves and a trash grabber ... to anyone who would like to help."

No one knows for sure when, or if, the bloom will reach Pinellas County’s famous beaches.
- - - - - - - -
Red Tide - Statewide Status

 

[SeesSeas]

Experts searching for solutions to stop red tide
August 7, 2018 @7:33 PM
MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. -- Not much change has been made when it comes to the heartbreaking sight of dead fish along our beautiful beaches. But experts are looking for ways to combat red tide.

• Solutions take negotiation in Florida politics
• Oysters seen as possible solution to filter water
• Gov. Scott signed executive order to waive rules for removal of dead fish

 

[human]

Golf courses, lawn care, failing septics. Fun times

 

[SeesSeas]

Recalling the devastating Red Tide of 2005 and dreading a repeat
Published: August 8, 2018
Updated: August 8, 2018 at 05:25 AM
It started that January, a small patch of discolored water about 20 miles west of St. Petersburg. Six months later, its lethal touch left scores of dead sea life on the shores of Pinellas County.
Soon, it was deemed one of the worst outbreaks of Red Tide in Florida history.
That was the algal bloom of 2005, which spent more than a year plaguing the gulf from the Alabama border to the Florida Keys.
Now, 13 years later, another devastating eruption is tainting the beaches of Southwest Florida and slowly tiptoeing north toward Tampa Bay.
Back then, in Florida coastal towns and cities largely dependent on visitors, tourism fell and businesses suffered.
Back then, locals grumbled as they took cover behind masks. The same toxins so deadly to sea life also caused respiratory problems for humans.
Back then, the impact was so catastrophic that it created a "dead zone" in the Gulf of Mexico.
Is it about to happen again?
[...]
From June to September in 2005, Pinellas County alone picked up 732 tons of dead sea animals from its coastline. That’s nearly 1.5 million pounds of rotting marine flesh, including seaweed and some sand. Local governments had to pay overtime and hire more workers to remove the reeking carcasses.
As the algae stayed trapped in lower ocean currents, massive decay squeezed the oxygen from the water. The water smelled like rotten eggs and divers’ silver jewelry and coins turned black.
[...]

 

[SeesSeas]

Red tide bloom reaches southern Pinellas Co.
August 8, 2018 @5:34 PM
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. -- It's official. The red tide bloom has reached south Pinellas County.

Red Tide - Statewide Status

 

[SeesSeas]

Birds sickened from eating fish killed by red tide
POSTED: AUG 10 2018 04:21PM EDT
VIDEO POSTED: AUG 10 2018 04:22PM EDT
UPDATED: AUG 10 2018 05:34PM EDT
SARASOTA (FOX 13) - Red tide continues to ravage the Sarasota and Manatee County areas. Friday, piles of dead fish washed ashore on Lido and Anna Maria Island beaches.

The toxic bloom has killed fish, dolphins, turtles, and manatees – and now it’s taking a toll on birds.

There's hardly an empty cage at the Wildlife Center of Venice. Pamela Defowl, with a group of volunteers, works around the clock, rescuing, recovering, and rehabilitating birds sickened by the red tide toxins.
[...]

 

[SeesSeas]

Red Tide’s toxic toll — your questions answered
Published: August 10, 2018
Updated: August 10, 2018 at 06:52 PM
A Red Tide algae bloom has been plaguing the Southwest Florida coast for months, and recently threatened to invade Tampa Bay (although the latest forecast shows it traveling southward again). Here are some questions and answers about the microscopic toxic threat to taking a fun trip to the beach.
[...]
Is it OK to eat seafood right now?
Most seafood restaurants aren’t serving fish and crustaceans that were caught locally, so you’ll be fine. If you want to eat a fish you caught yourself, be careful. Make sure it’s alive when you reel it in. Only eat the muscle tissue of the fish, nothing else.

Can I go swimming in the Red Tide?
If you can get past all the coughing and wheezing and dead fish floating in the water, sure!
[...]

 

[SeesSeas]

66 tons of dead fish pulled from Sarasota beaches amidst red tide bloom
POSTED: AUG 10 2018 02:35PM EDT
UPDATED: AUG 10 2018 06:00PM EDT
SARASOTA (FOX 13) - A persistent red tide bloom continues to send dead fish and marine mammals washing up on the shores of Southwest Florida. Now, one local county says crews there have removed more than 66 tons of dead fish from beaches in just the last few days.

Friday, shifting winds had pushed the stench of red tide back to shore along Manatee and Sarasota counties, where work continued to keep the beaches clear of dead wildlife.
[...]

 

[GarAndTeed]

I have this book, but can't find it (too many books!) I wonder if this microbe is related?
https://www.amazon.com/Waters-Turned-Blood-Rodney-Barker/dp/0684838451

 

[human]

Is it true that the sugar industry has a part of this?

 

[MaryG12]

Is it true that the sugar industry has a part of this?

Here is an article with information on the sugar industry and its relation to red tide:

Lake Okeechobee algae feeds Red Tide anxiety in Southwest Florida

 

[MaryG12]

66 tons of dead fish pulled from Sarasota beaches amidst red tide bloom
POSTED: AUG 10 2018 02:35PM EDT
UPDATED: AUG 10 2018 06:00PM EDT
SARASOTA (FOX 13) - A persistent red tide bloom continues to send dead fish and marine mammals washing up on the shores of Southwest Florida. Now, one local county says crews there have removed more than 66 tons of dead fish from beaches in just the last few days.

Friday, shifting winds had pushed the stench of red tide back to shore along Manatee and Sarasota counties, where work continued to keep the beaches clear of dead wildlife.
[...]

Heartbreaking...

9 bottlenose dolphins found dead in Sarasota County in 36-hours

 

[MaryG12]

Also, and we were talking about this at work a few days ago, the correlation of Hurricane Okeechobee (1928) to the red tide problem:

More water - and toxic algae - released from Lake Okeechobee


Florida's forgotten storm: The Hurricane of 1928

I never even heard of Hurricane Okeechobee until now and was shocked to learn how many people died as a result of it.

 

[SeesSeas]

. . . smelly mess on the beaches
Good news for Pinellas -- FWC says red tide moving south not north
August 11, 2018 @9:17 AM
[...]
Officials with FWC say the red tide levels along Pinellas County's shores remain low at this point.
However, Manatee County has been hit with the algae bloom that is killing thousands of fish and leaving a smelly mess on the beaches.

 

[SeesSeas]

Gov. Scott declares red tide emergency in 7 Florida counties
August 13, 2018 @4:37 PM
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Gov. Rick Scott on Monday declared a state of emergency due to impacts of red tide in Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Sarasota, Manatee, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
[...]

 

[SeesSeas]

Florida's toxic algae problem: 'Red tide' and 'green slime' - CNN
Updated 4:26 AM ET, Thu August 16, 2018
(CNN)When Marcy Cornell's toddler son "couldn't breathe" on the first day of their recent Florida vacation, she took him straight to the emergency room.
"Before they even asked me anything else ... they said, 'Did you go to the beach today?' " she recalled.
Doctors said her son had upper airway inflammation "brought on by the red tide," she said.
[...]
Using hospital records, researchers have found that respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses increase during red tides. In one study, hospital admissions for respiratory diagnoses jumped 54% for coastal residents.
[...]
In Florida, these blooms normally start in October and end in winter, but the current one has persisted, becoming the longest on record since 2006, the year after Hurricane Katrina and other storms rocked areas along the Gulf of Mexico. That red tide lasted 17 months.
[...]

 

[MaryG12]

Holy Cow, I left my workplace at the usual time, 5 PM, and I bicycled today and caught a very strong whiff of red tide (smelled more like raw sewage) in the air, right down the Stickney Point Rd corridor. Thought I was going to be asphyxiated.

I'm convinced the humidity magnifies the smell and the fact it's drizzling out did not help.

 

[SeesSeas]

Red Tide - Statewide Status
Respiratory irritation was reported over the past week in Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Lee, and Collier counties.
Red Tide Status Map (August 22, 2018)