Red tide florida update#

“When you see dead dolphins in the water, when you see dead manatees in the water, dead sea turtles … when you have captains who have fished in the area for decades say they have never seen anything like this, that is enough to declare a state of emergency and not just say it’s another naturally occurring harmful algal bloom.” “I think everyone in the community is frustrated,” he said. He said he decided to organize the rally to try to spark immediate change, including closing the nearby Piney Point wastewater reservoir and enacting a state of emergency to help clean up the waterways. “Hearing that phone call sparked a fire in me, to say if nothing is going to be happening, the community needs to lead this,” Paterek said. Thomas Paterek, chair of Suncoast Surfrider, told CNN he knew he had to do something when a friend called him in tears because of the dead fish on the beach outside of their water rental business. Members of the Suncoast Surfrider Foundation, a non-profit that works to protect oceans and beaches, and others in the community rallied against the problem Saturday, hoping to bring their concerns to the Florida Gov.

Red tide florida update#

“Red Tide in some parts of Tampa Bay in the past few days tested at ten to 17 times the concentration considered “high,” which can cause significant respiratory issues in people as well as fish kills,” Pinellas County officials said in a red tide update July 13.Ĭommunity members rally to see some change A bloom can change the color of the water to green, blue, brown, red or another color.” The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says “blooms can look like foam, scum, mats, or paint on the surface of the water. The blooms aren’t necessarily red or blue green. Blue green algae, which are toxic, have been blooming the past few weeks in the waters around Tampa Bay.ģ years ago, a massive algae bloom in Florida killed 2,000 tons of marine life.