Worse Red Tide in Years - Article in Today's Paper

[yippie]

I remember MANY years ago, we had Red Tide for several months. After reading several local forums, I assumed the Red Tide was gone.

Monday afternoone, I left work, exhausted in the afternoon, went home, opened the French doors to the screened porch for some fresh air.

BIG mistake. I coughed well into the next day. Now I know why. Here is an article published today, Wednesday in the Destin Log.

Local News

Red tide: Worst case in a decade?

November 06, 2007
By William Hatfield
Pointing to what they call the worst case of red tide in perhaps a decade, Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge officials are warning residents and visitors to stay away from area beaches.

While searching for a struggling dolphin Monday, officials instead found thousands of dead fish.

“I would say this is the worst we have ever seen by far,” Jessica Johns, a 9-year volunteer with the organization, said.

Reports of fish kills are coming in from Holiday Isle, the jetties and elsewhere.
“The bay especially is just full of it,” Johns said.

One resident, who asked not to be identified, walks regularly by Joe’s Bayou and Calhoun Park. She reported that the bayou is clear but the park is awash in dead fish and eels.

“It gave me the creeps,” she said. “I’ve been here since 1990, and I have never ever seen anything like that.”

Tests taken by Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission volunteers on Nov. 2. concluded that water samples detected high concentrations of Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, near Cinco Bayou in Okaloosa County. Medium concentrations of the algae were detected in nearby Garnier Bayou. Fish kill reports have been received from Escambia, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties.

“You guys have had pretty high cell counts and a pretty high concentration of the organism that causes red tide,” Jay Abbott, a red tide researcher with the commission, said.

The red tide symptoms most typically present in humans are irritation of the throat, nose, and eyes as well as shortness of breath, coughing or wheezing.
It may ultimately take a bout of rough weather to dislodge the stubborn algae from the coast.

“Otherwise, it’s just gotta run its course,” he said. “It could stick around for a few months.”

[Miss Kitty]

That's weird....I have symptoms, but didn't think it was the red tide. Since the symptoms don't go away indoors, it probably isn't. :biggrin:

[jdarg]

That's weird....I have symptoms, but didn't think it was the red tide. Since the symptoms don't go away indoors, it probably isn't. :biggrin:

:cry: I feel like Typhoid Mary. :(

[Miss Kitty]

:cry: I feel like Typhoid Mary. :(

Naw...you give yourself too much credit. Tummy and head involved. :wave: I did have a snezing and coughing fit last night and thought Molly would have to do CPR on me. :blink:

[scooterbug44]

Is there red tide on 30-A or more in Destin? Between biking, sunning, yardwork, and mountainfilm I spent the entire weekend outdoors and felt fabulous! :idontno:

[goodwitch58]

weekend seemed fine; the minute I drove onto 30A Monday afternoon with my car a/c off and vents and roof open...I felt Red Tide. Once I left the beach area, the symptoms went away...

[yippie]

I am glad the article was in the paper, I thought I was coming down with Pheumonia!

What a annoyance.

[NotDeadYet]

Between biking, sunning, yardwork, and mountainfilm I spent the entire weekend outdoors and felt fabulous

Me too. I think it is because the wind was out of the north. On Monday it must have switched back to the south for a while. I guess I won't complain about the cold north wind this morning. :cool:

[scooterbug44]

I hope the wind is favorable/red tide goes away! This is such lovely weather it sucks to be stuck indoors!

[andy robertson]

just returned after 5 days and none of my family had a sympton. Most perfect weather I have ever had at the beach.

[NotDeadYet]

Wind patterns spur Fla. red tide blooms


By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science WriterWed Nov 7, 8:04 PM ET
Harmful red tide blooms along Florida's west coast in the fall are spurred when seasonal changes in wind patterns move nutrients east from the Mississippi River, scientists reported Wednesday.
Harmful algal blooms occur from time to time in most coastal areas, with different algae affecting different areas. Florida's red tide blooms are caused by an organism called Karenia, and researchers have been seeking ways to better forecast when they will appear.
Researchers led by Richard P. Stumpf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concluded that nutrients from the Mississippi were encouraging the blooms, which occur along fronts of changing water density in the ocean. Changes in temperature or salinity can result in differing water density.
Karenia can swim up and down in the water, allowing them to feed on deep nutrients and then can come to the surface for light, forming the toxic blooms, Stumpf explained at a news conference.
Now that they have found the algae congregating below the surface, scientists are experimenting with an underwater mechanism to detect the blooms before they come to the surface.
"The key goal is to do a better forecast," Stumpf said.
Nationwide, NOAA reports, harmful algal blooms have a direct economic impact estimated to average $75 million annually, including public health costs, commercial fishing closures, recreation and tourism losses and in management and monitoring costs.
Scientists had been puzzled about why the west Florida blooms formed in water that is normally low in nutrients that the algae live on.
"We found that the concentrations of nutrients needed to start the Florida red tides is much lower than previously suspected," said Stumpf. "The hypothesis means that offshore areas should be examined for both small increases in nutrients and modest concentrations of the algae at the start of the bloom season."
Normally, water from the Mississippi travels west, he explained, but seasonal wind changes in late summer and fall move it eastward toward Florida.
Findings of the research team are published in the journal Continental Shelf Research.
___
On the Net:
NOAA Coastal Services Center: http://csc.noaa.gov
NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science: http://coastalscience.noaa.gov/
Harmful Algal Bloom Forecasts: http://www.csc.noaa.gov/crs/habf/

[Bobby J]

I surfed the last swell and was in the water for hours (2 weeks ago) and did not notice any Red tide. I thought it moved out 3-4 weeks ago?:idontno:

[Bluznbeach]

Is the red tide still around? I'm thinking of coming down for Thanksgiving but don't want to get stuck indoors, which happened when I was there last month. At that point, it was definitely the worst I've seen in Sowal.

[NotDeadYet]

Here are the test results from 11/09:

PRESENT STATUS, NORTHWEST: Water samples collected this week detected
> Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, alongshore between Escambia
> and Gulf counties at concentrations ranging from not present to high.
> Highest concentrations were detected 10 miles offshore of Perdido Key
> (Escambia County) and in St. Joseph Bay (Gulf County). Medium
> concentrations of K. brevis were detected in Garnier Bayou and at Destin
> Pass (Okaloosa County) as well as in St. Joseph Bay (Gulf County).
> Additional samples collected offshore of Franklin, Wakulla and Hernando
> counties contained no K. brevis. Discolored water was observed offshore of
> Escambia County. Fish kill reports have been received this week from
> Okaloosa and Walton counties.

It is still out there but the prevailing north winds we have this time of year are keeping it offshore. The beach is fine unless there is a strong south wind, unlikely this time of year. I haven't seen any dead fish around here and the bay at this end seems fine. Come on down. :wave:

[FLSunChaser]

We live in Freeport on the bay and there are tons of dead fish washed up and floating in the water. Smells lovely right now. . .

[SGB]

We've got dead fish in Mack Bayou too.

[luvthebeach]

Is the red tide still around? I'm thinking of coming down for Thanksgiving but don't want to get stuck indoors, which happened when I was there last month. At that point, it was definitely the worst I've seen in Sowal.

We were in the Seagrove Beach area from Saturday - Tuesday and the weather was absolutely perfect! Took several brisk walks on the beach between Rosemary and Seaside. I'm extremely sensitive to Red Tide and didn't have any symptoms the entire trip. :clap: