Red Tide 2018

Sarasota county gov.

 

 

 

 

The South West Florida coast is under siege from the worst red tide in recent memory. This latest bloom of red tide started in December 2017, but it wasn’t too bad. A few dead fish around and the odor was nonexistent. Fast forward to May 2018, reports of fish kills up and down the coast. Well okay. It’s that time of year, this is normal. Or is it? I grew up on these waters and this is the worst bloom I’ve ever seen.

1.    What is red tide?

Red tide is a harmful algal bloom (HAB). Dinoflagellates are microscopic plants that emit toxins. These toxins can kill marine life. www.oceanservice.noaa.gov

 

no swimming

 

 

 

 

 

2.    Does the brown water release from Lake Okeechobee have anything to do with how bad the red tide is this year? Or is this a natural occurrence?

www.sunshinestatenews.com reports that this, the release of water from the big lake is a widely believed myth. A 2012 study of the red tide season states that “circulation on the west Florida continental shelf is highly dependent on the Gulf of Mexico loop current.”

 

On the other hand, www.nbc-2.com in an August 1, 2013 story reports that approximately 75,000 gallons of brown water is released into the gulf from Lake Okeechobee is full of “dead plants, fertilizer and increased nutrients.” Rick Bartleson of the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation said while “The water isn’t toxic…in the future it could bring an unwanted guest. A red tide bloom.” The question remains, does the brown water release form Okeechobee increase the red tide bloom? We may never know for sure, but one thing we do know is that the pollution comes from run off from Big Sugar into the lake. But that’s another story.

 

3.    What has red tide killed this year?

Let’s start with thousands of fish from Tampa south to Naples. That’s over 160 miles of shore line. Red tide has killed game fish such as redfish, trout, snook, tarpon and countless other species. Snook seem to have been hit especially hard this year. With dozens of breeding size snook washed up on Boca Grande beaches. Among its victims are goliath grouper. As their name suggest, these are giant fish that can weigh over 300 pounds and live for decades. Along with fish the number of crustaceans killed by this bloom is vast, blue crabs, horseshoe crabs and shrimp to name just a few.

local fish kill

While this is bad, what really pulls at the heartstrings of locals and tourist alike are the dolphin, manatee and sea turtles that have washed ashore. These creatures are so loved that there are boat tours just so people can catch a glimpse of them. On August 1^st on a sandbar in Lemon Bay a paralyzed manatee was spotted, rescued and transported to Sea World only to die the next day. It is also sea turtle hatch season. On average only ten percent of hatchlings survive, how much lower will the survive rate be with the red tide? By far the biggest casualty of this year’s tide is a whale shark that washed up on Sanibel Island.

 

4.    What can be done about red tide?

There are no concrete solutions because red tide is a natural phenomenon nothing can really be done at this time. There are several theories on how to combat the dinoflagellate bloom, from restoring the everglades to tracking the bloom and putting out warnings.

 

5.    What is the possible economic impact on the South West Florida coast?

Just in my home town of Englewood the beaches are empty and so are the rental homes and condos along Beach Road. Red tide is not only having a major financial impact on realtors, but also on the bait shops, restaurants, boat rentals and more. One convenience store manager near the beach told me that their day shift is off by $8,000 a day and that’s just one store. Up and down the coast the potential cost of the 2018 red tide to the state of Florida and its residents can be as high as 87.6 billion dollars. www.captainsforcleanwater.com  



the shore of Lemon Bay Englewood, Fl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whether this red tide has been made worse by the brown water discharge from Lake Okeechobee or if it’s the result of the perfect storm of early heavy rains and higher than normal temperatures, one thing we know for sure is so far this year, on Siesta Key the number 1 beach in the nation in 2017, workers have picked up 9 tons of dead fish. This red tide has the potential to devastate not only our shoreline and livelihood, but our health as well.  In the words of one charter captain I spoke with “We need a strong easterly wind to blow this out to sea.”