Red tide torments Florida Gulf Coast
Hadn't heard about this:
The first-class St. Pete Times no doubt has covered it, but who outside the region reads it? Maybe all those toxins from the New Orleans area will kill it, along with every other life form in the Gulf.
ANNA MARIA ISLAND, Fla., Oct. 7 - Even when the beaches are free of dead fish and bad smells, it is evident: Coughing, sniffling and itchy, teary eyes confirm that red tide is out there, killing sea life by the ton and tainting the air along Florida's southwest coast for a ninth straight month.
What started in January with a fisherman's report of an algal bloom off St. Petersburg has spread south to Naples and, in recent weeks, up to Pensacola. It is one of Florida's worst red tides in decades. ...
Scientists say that Karenia brevis, the Gulf Coast's strain of red tide, is a naturally occurring alga that has appeared here since at least the 1800's. It produces a toxin that causes short-term respiratory problems in humans when it vaporizes and, more seriously, attacks the central nervous systems of fish, birds and sea mammals. Its victims this year include at least 163 sea turtles, 63 manatees, 25 dolphins and thousands of fish, many of which have carpeted beaches.
The first-class St. Pete Times no doubt has covered it, but who outside the region reads it? Maybe all those toxins from the New Orleans area will kill it, along with every other life form in the Gulf.
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