The patchy red tide down in Monroe County of the Florida Keys has spread but still isn’t effecting much area. Now it’s on the north side and the south side the southernmost keys.
Here’s a little map highlighting the areas effected:
We told you last month that a very grim summer was predicted for the folks up in Maine. Looks like it has started early. Here’s an excerpt from a press release from the people at the Woods Hole:
Yesterday, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution senior scientist Donald Anderson told the Cape Cod Times that some small amounts of red tide toxins, below the level where it affects human or animal health, have begun showing up in shellfish along the North Shore and in one salt pond on the Cape.
Anderson said it is not clear yet whether March’s heavy rains, which wash nutrients off the land, will help feed a major red tide bloom if one develops. Northeast winds from storms also can aid a red tide outbreak by concentrating the algae along the shore, but Anderson said it was still unknown whether that was happening. Research cruises to gauge the size, location and spread of red tide blooms have not been scheduled to start until May 1.
Yesterday, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution senior scientist Donald Anderson told the Cape Cod Times that some small amounts of red tide toxins, below the level where it affects human or animal health, have begun showing up in shellfish along the North Shore and in one salt pond on the Cape.
Anderson said it is not clear yet whether March’s heavy rains, which wash nutrients off the land, will help feed a major red tide bloom if one develops. Northeast winds from storms also can aid a red tide outbreak by concentrating the algae along the shore, but Anderson said it was still unknown whether that was happening. Research cruises to gauge the size, location and spread of red tide blooms have not been scheduled to start until May 1.
They say they’ll have a little more information after they gather and analyze samples form the area waters off the coast of Maine and further offshore.
NOAA has been using some new technologies to predict future red tides. Off the coast of Maine, it appears that they will have the worst red tide ever this summer. New Hampshire is included in this gloomy forecast.
The projection is based on a sea-floor survey of the seed-like cysts of Alexandrium fundyense, (which is different than the K. Brevis red tide we get here in Fl, but just as devastating), an organism that causes the harmful algal blooms that are referred to as red tides. Cysts deposited in the fall hatch the following spring, and last fall the abundance of cysts in the sediment was 60 percent higher than observed prior to the historic bloom of 2005, indicating that a large bloom is likely in the spring of 2010.
The Scientists are so alarmed that they held a teleconference for the media in addition to their normal outlook report. Sadly the local oyster farmers seem to be in denial and even seem to be trying to blame the scientists. Saying things like “It’s so unlikely, We certainly don’t lose any sleep about it or worry much about it.” and that the last red tide closure that Duxbury oyster farmers faced was in 2005, when the state’s shellfish industry grappled with the worst red tide bloom in recent memory. Well guys, this one is supposed to be even worse so get worried. Not that there is anything to do about it. Continued…
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.
NOAA has been using some new technologies to predict future red tides. Off the coast of Maine, it appears that they will have the worst red tide ever this summer. New Hampshire is included in this gloomy forecast.
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