Hundreds of dead fish washing up due to red tide in Marco Island, USA
As Marco Island builds high concentration levels of red tide, Collier County cleanup crews took on raking up hundreds of pounds of dead fish over the weekend, according to Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Since Friday, the county said they raked 150 to 200 pounds on Marco Island alone. But on Tigertail Beach, there is still work to be done.
“It’s interesting because the coughing will come pretty much at the same time. We’ll both be hit at the same time,” Elisa Milano said.
The couple sat nearly a mile away from the water.
“It’s not as bad back here,” Milano said.
Meanwhile at the shoreline, Janice Shaffer and her grandchildren made the best of a bizarre beach day.
“It comes almost every year, so we just kind of deal with it. I try to get the grandkids not to touch the dead fish, which is gross,” Shaffer said.
Others, like Pam and Sybil Burge went out of their way to dodge dead fish in order to snag some shells. Both said they wonder what the county is doing to clean up the mess.
“Since I’m still shrieking every time I cross an eel or a fish, I would say, could you do a better job?” Sybil Burge said.
The county said cleanup will take time. In smaller areas, like Vanderbilt Beach, crews can rake up all the dead fish every weekday. But with 2.5 miles of beach to rake on Marco, it will take a few days.
Courtesy of nbc-2.com
292 dead turtles found on beaches, ‘due to red tide’ in Mexico #turtles #RedTide #Mexico
Photo Credit: Reuters
Close to 300 rare green turtles have been found dead on the beaches of southern Mexico, killed by a red tide of microalgae caused in part by climate change, authorities said.
The algae feeds tiny fish called salp that are toxic to turtles. It reached the shores of Oaxaca state a little over two weeks ago, the Federal Attorney’s Office for Environmental Protection said on Thursday.
A total of 292 turtles were found dead, it said, adding that 27 were saved and will be nursed back to health before being released back into the wild.
The animals are endangered green turtles, which can grow up to 1.5 metres (5 feet) long. They nest all along the Mexican coast as well as elsewhere around the world, including off the shores of Hawaii and Australia.
Courtesy of news18.com
Masses of dead #fish wash up in #BurntStore marina in #Florida, #USA
Hundreds of dead fish piling up in the water near Burnt Store Marina are likely a result of red tide.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said red tide is likely to blame for the fish kills near Burnt Store Marina.
There are high concentrations of red tide in the area, according to FWC’s map.
Officials said they received a report to the hotline about this specific location on Nov. 25.
Joe Laupert sent us video Sunday while riding his golf cart through the area.
“We were riding around the corner, and there they were, piled up,” Laupert said.
On Monday, our crews went to check out the area. We found hundreds of dead fish near Dock S.
Courtesy of nbc-2.com
Hundreds of dead #fish spotted in #MarcoIsland waters in #Florida, #USA
Dead fish have washed up on a beach in Marco Island.
Several dead fish were found in the sand on beach access near Maderia Condominium early Wednesday morning.
Hundreds of dead fish were also spotted floating in the water at Caxambas Park.
According to a Wednesday Collier County Red Tide update, a sample from Monday shows high concentrations of red tide at Caxambas Pass.
This isn’t the first time dead fish have been spotted in Collier County recently.
They covered the shoreline at Clam Pass Beach last week, and some were spotted at Horizon Way Beach in Naples as well.
Samples taken last week at Barefoot Beach and Vanderbilt Beach in Collier County showed medium red tide concentrations.
Courtesy of nbc-2.com
589 #turtles, 824 #manatees, 127 #dolphins dead during past 16 months, due to red tide, in #Florida, #USA
Preliminary data from FWC showed that the 824 manatee deaths in 2018 from both red tide, sickness and human-related causes surpassed the previous record of 803 set during another red tide outbreak in 2013.
Because of the partial U.S. government shutdown, NOAA has not provided updates for dolphins on its UME website. Dolphin strandings spiked in August and November, but have begun to slow down as red tide shows signs of weakening along the Southwest Florida coast.
Few experienced the gruesome first-hand effects of red tide more than turtle patrol participants, who wore masks and scarves to check turtle crawls following hatching during nesting season, May through October.
Don MacAulay of Englewood said he felt the effects of the airborne toxins — a nearly 150-mile by 20-mile wide bloom at its peak — driving over the bridge to Manasota Key. His throat and eyes burned from the aerosolized red tide toxins carried miles by the sea spray.
The stench of the carnage hung on the summer humidity.
“We were wearing snorkel goggles and respirators to do the job,” said MacAulay, a volunteer since 2016. “It was just horrible. Everywhere you stepped, you couldn’t go down to the shoreline. It was lined all the way with dead fish. … The bugs were worse.”
Turtle patrollers — doctors, dentists, anglers, kayakers, teachers, outdoors people from all walks of life — donned military-grade gas masks or wore scarves over their face on mile-long walks to check for fresh turtle crawls. Later on, they cleared a path through piles of rotting fish to make way for hatchlings racing to the sea.
“The turtles barrel through the dead fish and still nest,” MacAulay said. “We had to go each day regardless of the stench and the toxins in the air. We tried to protect ourselves the best we could. It’s kind of extreme when you’re walking down the beach like you’re in chemical gear in a lab somewhere.”
MacAulay, and many others who signed on for the previously leisurely strolls to check nests — before sunrise and before beachgoers or tides could erase evidence of the crawls — didn’t quit the thankless job.
Courtesy of heraldtribune.com
Thousands of dead fish found washed up along Robinson Preserve, Florida, USA
A massive cleanup is underway in Manatee County at the Robinson Preserve. Crews consider the effort an all-hands-on-deck emergency as they work non-stop to clean up the preserve, a popular spot in Manatee County where thousands of dead mullet have washed into the area because of red tide.
Manatee County’s natural resources and ecological marine staff have been working to clean up the fish by going out on barges to pick them up by hand, and then filling up huge dumpsters.
“We will just try to get as much out of there to keep the water quality as good as we can so we don’t have a continuation of this,” said Damon Moore of Manatee County Parks and Natural Resources.
Courtesy of fox13news.com
TONS of dead fish continue to wash up due to red tide in Pinellas County, Florida, USA
Tons of dead fish, effected by red tide, continue to wash inshore in Pinellas County.
Fishermen cousins Kyle and Sam Joseph have been on the water to help with the clean up.
“It’s just tons of it, man,” said Sam.
They’ve been working for weeks, pulling 12 hour shifts.
“We’re going on day 16 now and doesn’t look like we’re slowing down,” said Kyle.
Captain Dan Condron, with Lil Mo Marines Services, said fish continue to wash inshore, days after Hurricane Michael passed Tampa Bay.
“Sheepshead, snooks, flounder, pin fish, all the inshore species were pretty much bad,” he said.
Crews are focused on the Intracoastal waterway, residential canals and bay waters.
Onshore winds brought fish kills to St. Pete Beach and Pass-A-Grille Tuesday morning.
“The wind pushes it against the dock line and it’ll be a big ole cluster,” said Condron.
He said he wants to get his crew back on the water doing what they love.
“I run a handful of other people’s boats for fishing charters. Half of my fleet over here, he’s a fishing charter guy, couple other guys so from there, just happy to get everybody back to work,” said Condron.
Pinellas County conducted water quality testing on Monday and found overall declining concentrations of Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism.
However, high concentrations were found at Treasure Island, Gulfport Fishing Pier, Fort De Soto Park bayside and Keegan Clair Park.
Several samples were collected from the Intracoastal Waterway near areas of large fish kills, and the results were extremely high.
Courtesy of wfla.com
60,000 dead fish wash up in Indian River Lagoon, Florida, USA
An estimated 60,000 dead fish littered a six-mile-long stretch of Indian River Shores’ beaches Wednesday morning, according to a Public Safety Department survey.
In some spots, there were more than 200 dead fish for every 100 feet of shoreline, which stretches from Vero Beach north to Wabasso Beach.
“It’s very patchy,” Police Chief Rich Rosell told the Town Council during a meeting Wednesday. “In some areas there are more than 200 and in others there are less.”
The Town Council unanimously authorized Town Manager Rob Stabe to spend up to $25,000 in emergency funds to clean up the massive fish kill.
Stabe said he would contact Vero Beach and Indian River County officials to see who those governments contracted for their cleanup efforts, and consider hiring them as well.
Courtesy of eu.tcpalm.com
Hundreds of dead fish wash up, due to red tide in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
Hundreds of dead fish have been found washed ashore Fort Lauderdale Beach, leaving officials to believe that toxic red tide algae has made its first appearance in Broward County.
Mayor Dean Trantalis says beaches in the city will remain open until official test results from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission are confirmed. Those test results are expected to be returned by the end of Friday.
Beginning Friday morning, signs will be posted to inform beachgoers of current conditions, while city employees will continue to remove fish that wash up on-shore.
While finding hundreds of fish on Fort Lauderdale Beach sounds alarming, the mayor claims that’s nothing compared to other parts of the state.
“We should compare that to what’s happening in the Gulf Coast since August, they’ve removed 200 tons,” said Trantalis.
Several Miami-Dade beaches were closed overnight, and remain closed, after red tide was discovered in the area.
Trantalis says the city will continue to work with county and state officials to monitor water off the coastline.
Courtesy of local10.com
Massive fish kill, due to red tide, ‘never seen this before’ in Mexico Beach, Florida, USA
“This is probably the biggest fish kill we’ve ever had in our canal,” said Mayor Al Cathey. “I’ve been here all my life and I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Crews might need until the end of Friday to unclog Mexico Beach Canal of fish likely killed by a toxic red tide algae bloom on Tuesday.
Mexico Beach Mayor Al Cathey said the cleanup, which began on Wednesday, would be long and intensive because workers have had to remove the fish by hand with nets since machinery can’t fit in the canal. Meanwhile, the dead fish and the possible threat of more from another red tide has Cathey and some tourism advocates worried about a drop in visitors to the city and their wallets.
“This is probably the biggest fish kill we’ve ever had in our canal,” Cathey said. “I’ve been here all my life and I’ve never seen anything like this.”
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Wednesday report, medium concentrations of Karenia brevis, the algae responsible for red tide, were detected in Bay County near Mexico Beach. Medium concentrations of red tide are enough to kill fish and cause respiratory irritation.
Courtesy of newsherald.com
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