100 Square Miles of Red Tide

About a week ago, a 100 square mile patch of red tide was spotted off the Gulf Coast of Florida. Should all of it drift into shore, it will cause enormous damage to fish and other marine life. The chart below gives you a more recent update. As you can see, at this time the worst of it is in Charlotte and Lee County. But offshore the bloom extends for roughly Tampa to the Keys and is slowly moving eastward. Watch this YouTube link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeW1nN3njoc

Historically red tide arrived on the Gulf side in late summer or fall and early winter, lasting only a few weeks. But nowadays red tide can be far more persistent. Back in 2017-2018 it lasted a year! I know, I was there. With tens of thousands of dead and rotting fish stretching along the beaches, towns had to bring in payloaders and dump trucks to haul them away. You heard right, heavy construction equipment. If I remember correctly Sanibel removed 250 tons of dead marine life in a two week span.

While there is never a good time for a red tide outbreak, the present one is particularly troubling, coming during the tourist season and the peak months of the already whacky real estate market. But it is issues such as these two that may finally push Florida’s legislators to act. Lord knows they have long hated spending money on water quality. Instead allowing themselves to be bamboozled by the lobbying dollars of ” Big
Sugar”.

During the years I lived on that coast, I reported on red tide several times. Here are my links from those years offering additional information. What the hell is causing all of this, red tide? You can bet your favorite fly rod that coastal eutrophication, releases from Lake Okeechobee, and climate change are all part of the problem.,

https://edmitchelloutdoors.com/2018/04/30/the-red-tide-remains/

https://edmitchelloutdoors.com/2016/11/14/red-tide-charlotte-harbor/

If you’re interested in learning more, visit this site. https://captainsforcleanwater.org/