Just published in the journal, Aquatic Toxicology, is a study by Dong-Ha Nam and colleagues on the effects of brevetoxins on sharks. Brevetoxins are the toxins that are released by organisms like Karenia Brevis, the organism that is behind Florida Red Tide. The conclusion? Brevetoxins modify the neurochemistry of shark brains, making them over-excited and even killing them.
The authors of this study focused on lemon sharks entirely, they believe however that this research applies to all sharks.
Seems a pilot off jetting around for a fun weekend discovered a big red tide out near Santa Barbra California. He took pictures for all the doubters too. This red tide hasn’t been documented by anyone but him so far. At least not in traditional sources.
I did find lots of mention of last months red tide bloom in San Diego. I also found several mentions of the California blue tide. But nothing on this red tide.
Here’s a map of the area where the red tide was spotted for those interested. It was somewhere near a large state park called Gaviota.
To address the comments saying they can’t see the pictures the pictures are here. They are on someone elses web site, I can’t just take them and put them on our site, that’s stealing. I will contact the photographer and ask him if I can use them though . . stay tuned.
Governor Crist gets on CNN and says all the right things, we suppose. In truth, we think there’s much more The State of Florida could be doing to keep this oil from washing up on it’s beaches en masse’. If we do, we’ll all be known (including you Governor Crist), as the heros that stopped the flow of Oil from going into the Atlantic and possibly, actually destroying all of mankind. Okay, maybe the BP Oil Leak isn’t a planet killer (how big does an oil spill have to get before it kills the planet anyway?), but if this oil gets into the Atlantic in large quantities, it will be a global disaster.
Of course there is risk for a Governor to do something about this. As you know our Governor is currently campaigning. If he was to go out there and try to get this oil, and fails to get it all, or even just looks silly doing it, his career could be over. So he has a huge motive to stick to traditional emergency response methods. After all traditional and conservative mean just about the same thing and here in FL they argue about who is more conservative like it’s a good thing.
Here’s the “traditional” forms of actions he’s taking:
Requested $50 million from the federal government.
Half of which has been approved and delivered. It’s marked for marketing, of all things.
The other half hasn’t been decided on yet and that half is for beach clean up, booms, skimmers, etc.
Requested $100 million “promptly” from BP for clean up and research projects
Issued a State of Emergency for “virtually” the entire state of Florida
Acting tough and concerned in public about the issue in the media
This is while still saying the beaches are clean and the water clear, come on down to FL and have some fun.
We all love positive stories when it comes to the environment.
We love to see it when action is taken to prevent red tide. We believe that prevention is best solution to red tide. We believe it’s a very easy thing to prevent. It looks like the citizens of Florida are coming around to this same view point.
The Pinellas Board of County Commissioners took public comments on their proposed fertilizer regulations at their last meeting on December first.
Some people had a problem with a big loophole in the ordinance that would allow people to use fertilizer on their yards.
Some people will probable be opponents to this legislation when ever or however it’s going to be to put a vote in Pinellas country and the other counties that make up the Tampa Bay area.
Here’s a peak at some of the great things fertilizer ordinances can do for it’s citizens (and Tampa Bay) and the one thing that the opponents are sure to talk about.
USAToday has compiled a special report on the records numbers of red tide blooms and other harmful algae blooms that have been plauging the whole country’s coastlines over the past decade. They did a pretty great job, although I don’t think it ever made it t their front page and it’s only one page long. But they we’re able to land some quotes from some big names like people working for NOAA and Woods Hole.
It talks about how America has never had so much red tide in it’s history, not even close. It also mentions the massive numbers of fish killed, and most striking is that it’s been striking from Seattle to Maine and lots of places in between.
USAtoday is one of the least likely sources to report this kind of thing, but yet they so congratulations to them and they get a mention from me!
Scicurious from “Friday’s Wierd Science” has written a sexy article about a massive Diatom bloom that occurred off the coast of Napels (Italy, not Florida this tiem). It’s pretty rare that marine biology can be sexy. But since this story is and diatoms are what red tide are made off, we just made to mention that great article here and give them their props!
It’s been long known by citizens, especially in Florida, that red tide kills pets and contributes to deaths of the elderly and the sickly that are bed ridden near red tide contaminated waters. The latter is pretty rare, because usually, anyone that has the resources to live near the water in Florida, has the resources to move when their doctor says “You’re sick already, get away from the red tide!”
Pets and other land animals are a completely different story. Not only are their mouths closer to the ground (the toxins are slightly heavier than air), but lots of animals have no choice but to stay.
Texas Officials are warning people to keep their pets away from the beach, as the red tide has killed several and sickened many many more.
Ever seen a pelican that appears to be drunk during a red tide bloom?
WARNING: It gets grim, sad and a little graphic below: Continued…
In the last few days, three dead dolphins have washed ashore in Volusia County, on Florida’s east coast. Numerous other dead animals like a porpoise, horseshoe crabs, birds and even a sea turtle have been recently reported.
The east coast of Florida doesn’t receive as much red tide monitoring from the state nor do they do as much of their own testing as red tide isn’t as prevalent on Florida’s east coast as it is down in southwest FL.
This week alone in Sarasota FL there have been 3 manatees found dead. The suspected cause of death? Red Tide exposure. Since September 30th, there have been a dozen reported manatees deaths in Sarasota County. Researchers from FWRI were reluctant to attribute red tide as their death and downplayed the odds of red tide being a factor. Martine DeWit, an associate research scientist from FWRI said there were no significant red tide blooms this year. Evidently she has heard about all he fish kills in the Lee County / Collier county area over the last month or so. Or maybe she’s saying that that the red tide bloom that is in Sarasota county currently isn’t strong enough to effect them and there no chance the manatees would have traveled from Lee county. Whatever she saying she also saying that FWRI will test tissue samples from the dead manatees for red tide and other toxins to determine a more definitive cause of death. We like that better than speculation.
The red tide bloom in Texas is getting stronger. There’s a fish kill or two in the Mustang island area (which on the northern end of South Padre Island, just south of Port Aransas. The main fish kill goes from just inside the inlet to a mile offshore according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and various press sources.
It appears this red tide is getting stronger and bigger. The red tide testing network in Texas seems to be mostly visual, they think there’s a second bloom just inside the mouth of the Corpus Christi harbor.If they would take water samples from many different areas close by and in between these two HAB’s I suspect they would find that these two Harmful Algae Blooms are actually one. Just a theory and not one that matters most. More important is what they arwe doing to mitigate these red tide blooms and prevent more from aoccuring. Which sadly appears to be nothing! In fact I’ve on TWPD’s web site the same kinds of “mis-truths” that used to be told by similiar enties in Florida. People of Texas, please don’t let your treat you this way.
Read our Red Tide Report page for updates. The bloom in Sarasota County is growing, but slowly.
The Red tide bloom down in Ft Myers Florida and Naples Florida is a totally different story! It’s increasing in strength and size rapidly. In fact there is either a brand new red tide bloom off Charlotte Harbor or the off Naples has spread all the way north to there.
These reports are coming from FWRI and are a week old. We’ve had big rain since then, which washes fertilizer from the farms into their river and then into the Gulf feeding the K. Brevis algae that make up red tide. However we’ve also had a cold front that’s bringing lower temperature which may cool the water and thus discourage this Harmful Algal bloom from growing.
Florida residents and tourists please feel free to comment below. Also we’d like to welcome the sudden influx of viewers from Texas and wish them the best with their recent red tide.
I also like to get some feed back from everyone about if I shuld dedicate a page to a Texas red Tide Report, just rename the Florida Red Tide report to theRed tide Report or just not include the information about red tides in Texas. Maine, other countries, etc. It is a lot to keep up with!
The red tide bloom we reported in the South Padre Island area of Texas along the Gulf of Mexico has increased instead decreased as the locals there had predicted. It seems that in some spots this red tide is very severe. It is also showing the signs of a brand new increase for example the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department issued a statement on Wed saying that the dead fish count was as high as 1,000 in a 15-yard stretch approx 2 miles of shore. The dead fish are moving toward slowly with the current. The fish will obviously be quite disgusting by the time they reach the beautiful beaches there.
These fish kills aren’t limited to off shore. Several fish kills have also been spotted near shore along beaches already. The effected area is as far north as Port Aransas. I checked out some official source of information for Texas citizens and was sorely disappointed. They didn’t outright lie about the health effects of red tide on humans but they left out quite a bit. Several of the more right leaning newspapers were being dishonest about the causes of red tide. More on that later.
The Federal Government’s E.P.A. has finally begun following several townships and a few counties here in FL to set limits on the amount of red tide causing pollution that can be dumped into lakes, rivers streams, etc. by Farms and businesses.
This is a huge boon because we all knew that the local townships and counties that were primarily farmland and thus the primary cause of the fertilizer in the watershed, weren’t going to do this. After all they’re run by the farmers that are putting this stuff in the water (not on purpose mind you), in the first place.
If these limits that the EPA limits puts into effect are properly researched and implemented, there should be a huge decrease in the amount of algal blooms in Florida. In as little as one year we could see Florida Red Tide levels fall to their historic, natural levels. That means we could go years or even decades between red tides and that when they do occur they will last days or weeks instead of years.
This is huge news for Florida Red Tide Solutions! It’s half of what we’ve been saying is needed all along. The important half. The other half is red tide bloom mitigation methods. Well if there is hardly ever a red tide, mitigation becomes much less important doesn’t it?
It looks like Lee County is not only learning how to prevent red tide, but is also learning that all they have to do is try and they’ll make a difference. They’ve recently enacted legislation which while poorly written and still not very effective, will make a difference.
Here’s some of the points the legislation covers:
The new ordinance stipulates that fertilizers containing nitrogen or phosphorus cannot be used during the four-month rainy season of June through September.
Fertilizer application is also prohibited within 10 feet of any body of water, seawall or wetland.
All spreaders must be equipped with a deflector shield to better target application and to prevent errant fertilizer from being spread into water buffer areas and hard impervious surfaces like roads, driveways and sidewalks.
Clippings and trimmings cannot be swept or blown into ditches, drains or any body of water, or onto any road or sidewalk.
Professional landscapers are required to register with the county and have at least one employee certified through a training program offered by the University of Florida Lee County Extension Service.
It still hasn’t been confirmed yet, but it appears there are some waters effected with Florida Red Tide down in the Ft. Myers area.
A nice rain after a long dry spell is often the trigger for a red tide bloom in Florida. Ft. Myers is especially susceptible because of the high amounts of fertilizers in the Caloosahatchee River. This is due to it’s proximity in the “river of Grass” that is Florida as well as all the farms along the Caloosahatchee water shed.
The only thing really working in Ft. Myers favor right now is the fact that it wasn’t a big rain.
Sarasota FL – Mote Marine recently concluded a 4 year long study that shows:
Red tide harms birds and sea turtles.
Sea turtles take longer to be rehabilitated from red tide exposure than birds.
Yup, that’s it. That took them 4 years and God only knows how much of the money that was granted for the specific purpose of exploring the link between pollution and red tide blooms.
Still no good answer from them as to why they are refusing to study this issue in earnest.
There is a tiny little piece of good news about Mote Marine however. Disney and the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary are performing some research into a drug called Cholestyramine for the treatment of red tide in birds. Mote and FWRI and jumping n the bandwagon. Hopefully they aren’t there to maliciously influence test results and will actually be helpful.. One would guess from their previous actions that they would want this to work because this drug is made by an established company. Mote and FWRI have a history of appearing to serve these companies instead of the people and animals of Florida.
I’m not sure how helpful this is but some researchers have discovered that sometimes plankton, algae and other microbes get trapped between layers of ocean water moving in different directions.
Red Tide mitigation is actually pretty easy. Japan, the Phillipines, South Korea, Vietnam and many other countries have been doing it for years. I call it the clay mitigation method. The exact formula is even know. I’ll give it away for free right now:
Spray a clay slurry on the effected area to a concentration of 8 grams per liter of water.
Bloom gone, fish live, no untoward consequences.
Yup, that’s it. Simple whuh?
Ok, now U.S. and Florida government, why won’t you mitigate red tide blooms?
By the way, preventing red tide is pretty simple too.
The real question is:
How are we going to force the government to prevent and mitigate Florida Red Tide?
It’s a shame we have to, but they went for several years trying to say that red tide doesn’t bother us, red tide is harmless, red tide isn’t on the increase, red tide isn’t linked to pollution etc. etc. etc. So it looks like we are going have to either persuade or force the government to serve it’s citizens.
In the past we’ve heard from the Florida Government, Mote Marine, START and other government and semi-government entities that “There is no proof that red tide is caused by nutrient pollution. This site provided the evidence and other groups brought to meeting after meeting held by Mote Marine, FWC and others. finally after a few years these organizations and government entities stopped trying to say there was no link.
Several studies have come out recently proving the relations between nutrients like fertilizers from homeowners lawns, golf courses and those oh so important medians between roads (they really need to be fertilized?) Continued…
State officials are proposing to eliminate Maine’s red tide monitoring program in order to comply with required budget cuts, a move shellfish diggers fear could drive them out of business.
Commissioner George LaPointe of the Department of Marine Resources says Gov. John Baldacci’s order to reduce its budget by 10%, or $1 million, requires either radical cuts in the marine patrol or the scrapping of all shellfish inspections.
The commissioner acknowledged that the proposal would essentially close Maine’s $50 million shellfish industry but said deep cuts in marine patrol would hurt all of the state’s fisheries.
The research into the little known (until reported here), area of Plankton Parasites (or parasitoids ), is paying off. In case you haven’t heard, there is a species of micro organisms that feed on specific species of plankton (K. Brevis is one of them). It seems that when several harmful algal blooms like red tide blooms occur in a series for more than a few years in a row (like the last 15 years in Florida or the last 5 in Maine) the problem may be that this parasite can’t survive something and thus can’t flourish enough to reduce the amount of K Brevis in the water.
Here’s some quotes from an article about it:
Using a new technique that allows researchers to track the parasites as they infect the plankton with fluorescent markers, Guillou and her colleagues were able to monitor both an invasive species of plankton and the parasites for three years in a coastal estuary in France. What they were able to see was the very early infection of the plankton by the parasite, and then the eventual swelling and bursting of the plankton as the parasite’s many offspring broke free — hungry to infect again.
“We hypothesize that when a bloom occurs, these parasitoids are not able to infect the invasive species,” Guillou said.
Not much time to talk about Florida Red Tide today folks but I absolutley had to share this news with all of you:
“The Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego has discovered that RCA bacteria—a natural marine microbe—can attack and kill the single-cell plankton that produce red tide algae.”
The Sierra Club is hosting a Red Tide Forum this Thursday, 2pm, at the Manatee Community College campus in Venice, in the Selby Room at the Professional Development Center of the campus.
Topics covered will be Red Tide, fertilizers and water resources.
Larry Brand, a professor of marine biology at the University of Miami will be the featured speaker. Larry Brand is known for his research linking human activity — fertilizer and phosphates — along Florida’s coastline to the increase in red tide and other harmful algal blooms in the Gulf of Mexico.
In the past we’ve heard from the Florida Government, Mote Marine, START and other government and semi-government entities that “There is no proof that red tide is caused by nutrient pollution. This site provided the evidence and other groups brought to meeting after meeting held by Mote Marine, FWC and others. finally after a few years these organizations and government entities stopped trying to say there was no link.
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