Sarasota County, FL, may be facing an outbreak of red tide - 28 September, 2011

Just thought I would pass this along, especially for those who live in, or might be visiting the area.

It start with,

For the first time in more than four years, Sarasota County may be facing an outbreak of red tide, the noxious algae that kills fish and causes respiratory irritation in people. Water quality samples taken recently by Sarasota County in partnership with Mote Marine Laboratory showed elevated concentrations of the algae near Manasota Beach and near Venice and Englewood beaches, according to data released late Tuesday.

What can red tide do to humans or animals?

Red tide algae contain neurotoxins that get released into the water and air when the algae die. The poisons kill fish, sea turtles and marine mammals. Severe red tides can make people on the beach cough and wheeze when winds blow onshore.

And also,

Zoe Bass, who monitors sea turtle nests on Manasota Key, said she has noticedmany small, dead fish lately on the northern part of the key. She said she had suspected red tide because they seemed to be washing ashore alive, as though escaping a bloom. Bass also said other turtle volunteers reportedseveral dead birds recently.

Source

reply to post by summer5



Good info to pass to my parents who still live there. I am in Ny, but lived in Sarasota for awhile.

I have seen Red Tide first hand. Not too pretty. When i was a kid, it took them a long long time to clean up the fish. better equipment now.

Yeah, I am here in FL, red tide is... Actually it is just really sad... Smells pretty bad as well...

So... Yeah, thank you for the information!

reply to post by Bluesquid


Honestly, I had never heard of red tide before. I had to do some searching around to see what I could find out about it. I have a son who lives in Venice, and he frequents the beach, I have to try and reach him tomorrow.

As much as I don't like a few people who possibly still live in Sarasota, I hope that everyone and everything will be alright.

Grrr....

reply to post by EvanJP


I am assuming it smells from the dead fish/sea life dying off?

reply to post by summer5


Correct, low tide+red tide = septic tank xxxplosion redux 2012

reply to post by summer5


I am certainly not saying that there is a definite connection here...BUT I have to tell you that seeing this story is beyond weird. Let me explain. I live right in this immediate area (Venice Beach). I am approximately 1.6 miles from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Anyway, last Thursday night I had gone out to walk my dog and noticed my pool water was very cloudy. My pool is in a screened enclosure. Friday morning I woke to find the pool, which is professionally maintained weekly, was almost tinted with a mahogany color. The cloudiness had not changed for the worse...just the color. I called in our pool service and they responded by adding all kinds of chemicals and stated that all of the levels appeared to be fine with the exception of the chlorine levels (which were very low). What's interesting about the levels being low is that I had noticed that the tabs (chlorine) were still not completely dissolved. Now, our pool service people, have been servicing this pool for 4 years and we have NEVER seen this. The week leading up to this, almost no one swam in the pool because we had pretty rainy weather. The pool guy's light goes off in his head. "It must be all of the rainwater added to the pool", he says. He went on to say that the chlorine just hadn't caught up yet. He left after treating the pool which he said would knock the crap out of anything in the pool and told me not to let my kids swim in it for 24 hours. He left me with instructions to call him if it didn't get better after 24 hours. It didn't get better and he came back. He was so shocked that he called the owner of the company who is a chemist. She arrived and stated that she had never seen anything like it. The two of them dumped in chemicals, cleaned filters and lines and whatever else they could think of. She stated that they would be back in 5-6hours and fully expected that the water would be clear. She also said, "this is just weird". 5 and one half hours later they returned and things were not better. She started doing all kinds of tests and then said, "if I didn't know any better, I would think this was the same algae found in red tide". No resolve today and they will be back in the morning. Needless to say there is no swimming here for a bit. This is just freaky.

reply to post by MightyQuincunx


Now that is very strange. Especially with you having it professionally cleaned and cared for. Might be worth mentioning at least. You would think that others in the area would be having the same issue? Or at the very least they have seen your issue before

Either way, I would be curious to know your out come.

reply to post by summer5


Will keep you posted. Interestingly, the pool company was leaving my house to go to another call from a woman in my neighborhood who claims that her pool water was turning pink???

reply to post by MightyQuincunx


Oohhhhh...well then sounds like something in the air/rain water is contributing...

ok...all fixed. major algae bloom and no clue what caused it. It's safe to go back into the water.

Originally posted by MightyQuincunx
reply to post by summer5

 

I am certainly not saying that there is a definite connection here...BUT I have to tell you that seeing this story is beyond weird. Let me explain. I live right in this immediate area (Venice Beach). I am approximately 1.6 miles from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Anyway, last Thursday night I had gone out to walk my dog and noticed my pool water was very cloudy. My pool is in a screened enclosure. Friday morning I woke to find the pool, which is professionally maintained weekly, was almost tinted with a mahogany color. The cloudiness had not changed for the worse...just the color. I called in our pool service and they responded by adding all kinds of chemicals and stated that all of the levels appeared to be fine with the exception of the chlorine levels (which were very low). What's interesting about the levels being low is that I had noticed that the tabs (chlorine) were still not completely dissolved. Now, our pool service people, have been servicing this pool for 4 years and we have NEVER seen this. The week leading up to this, almost no one swam in the pool because we had pretty rainy weather. The pool guy's light goes off in his head. "It must be all of the rainwater added to the pool", he says. He went on to say that the chlorine just hadn't caught up yet. He left after treating the pool which he said would knock the crap out of anything in the pool and told me not to let my kids swim in it for 24 hours. He left me with instructions to call him if it didn't get better after 24 hours. It didn't get better and he came back. He was so shocked that he called the owner of the company who is a chemist. She arrived and stated that she had never seen anything like it. The two of them dumped in chemicals, cleaned filters and lines and whatever else they could think of. She stated that they would be back in 5-6hours and fully expected that the water would be clear. She also said, "this is just weird". 5 and one half hours later they returned and things were not better. She started doing all kinds of tests and then said, "if I didn't know any better, I would think this was the same algae found in red tide". No resolve today and they will be back in the morning. Needless to say there is no swimming here for a bit. This is just freaky.

Oh ignore me...it's amazing what can be learned when I read the whole thread. Good to hear it cleared up!

reply to post by MightyQuincunx


That is strange They have no idea what the cause was, but they were finally able to fix it.....

Glad things cleared up

Red tide is an algae bloom that occurs every year or so in Florida.
The locals are used to it.
Some don't even bother to stay out of the water, and it doesn't affect most people.

It's really common and such a minor topic that it rarely gets past local news outlets.