My cousin is on the west coast of Florida above Sarasota. The red tide there is really bad, disgusting and lethal to sea life. My understanding is it’s largely fueled by run off from agricultural fertilizers with sugar plantations being a prime offender. The photos I’ve seen him posting from local news is equal parts heartbreaking, repulsive and infuriating. Other Kossacks are better able to speak about the biology, chemistry and politics involved. I just wanted to post this cause my heart aches. Florida and its politicians, industries and home owners and residents all can do better than this.
This has got to impact tourism, btw.
The three photos in this diary are all from CNN’s story about this.
The
infamous "red tide" has turned southwest Florida into a tragic dead zone with miles of deserted beaches and boatfuls of dread.
The worst toxic algae bloom in recent memory is plaguing paradise and no one has any idea how long it will last and whether this is the new normal.
Snip
The
daily sightings of dead dolphins and lifeless sea turtles, beaches covered in rotting fish and the first recorded loss of a massive whale shark are all the result of a tiny organism known as Karenia brevis. It occurs naturally in saltwater, produces a neurotoxin deadly to most fish and marine mammals and is potentially harmful to humans.
But while red tides have broken out in Florida for centuries, scientists believe they may be getting worse after generations of unchecked development, water mismanagement and the new scourge of climate change.
snip
Generations of sugar cane farming has altered the chemistry of Florida's biggest lake and a vast system of dikes and dams built to "drain the swamp" and create a retirement wonderland has killed half of the Everglades and put the rest of this vital wetland on life support.
In the wet season, Florida dumps massive amounts of Okeechobee's nutrient-rich water into the most delicate ecosystems, while in the dry season, that water is diverted to farms and cities.