The Impact Of Red Tide

The articles “Red tide: the opportunistic omnivore keeps scientists busy”, and “Red tide is plaguing beaches on both of Florida’s coasts”, describes the environmental issue Red tide has had on Florida. A growing crisis prompted Gov. Rick Scott to announce a $3 million in-state assistance for five counties in the region. State officials say a Red tide bloom that began last fall now stretches roughly along 135 miles of Florida’s southwest coast, affecting business, tourism, and vacations.

The Impact Of Red Tide

The state of Florida is struggling with the problem of Red tide. The major issue is what to do about it. Crews of jail inmates are cleaning up tons of dead fish killed by the Red tide. The Red tide can cause breathing problems in people. It is caused by tons of dead fish on miles of the beaches. Gov. Rick Scott announced aid in the form of $3 million in grants from The Florida Department of Environmental Protection to help mitigate the effects of Red tide.

The Negative

The most disturbing aspect of Red tide is how badly it is affecting our sea life. It has killed numerous fish that are on miles and miles of our beaches. “The ocean is a big business out here,” Says Ricky Beck (Beck, 2018). Beck stated the Red tide is bad for business and that soon he could be in the unemployment line. Red tide has stopped vacationers from visiting and businesses are not as busy. The Red tide affects humans when breathing it in. It can make your throat burn, and some even feel sick. Along the Mid-Gulf Coast, Pinellas County is partnering with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to issue out a first-of-kind air quality forecast to keep residents and visitors safe during Red tide. The levels of algae that are in the gulf are extremely high; the Florida current, which forms the core of the gulf stream, can meander widely, bringing Red tide close to shore quickly or holding it out at sea for long periods of time. Nick Shay says, “ These meanders can occur daily or weekly or seasonally” (Shay, 2018).

The Positive

A promising fact from the article is that the scientists are constantly trying to find answers. Some good news is that the Red tide feeds on nutrients released from land, so management actions that reduce inshore pollution will likely diminish the duration and strength of the toxic blooms. ( www. baysoindisng. com, retrieved October4th, 2018) However, there are many organisms that can cause red tide.

A five-year study published some time last year looked at Red tide blooms caused by Karenia brevis in 2001, 2007, 2008, and 2009- as well as 2010, and found there was no one organism that was a sole source cause of red tide. This was a $4. 8 million study and was funded through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and published as a special edition of the journal Harmful Algae. ( www. baysoindisng. com, retrieved October4th, 2018) Matt Garrett, a marine research associate at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute said, “We didn’t find the smoking gun-or even two or three guns”(Garrett, 2015). Garrett then added “there are so many connected pieces that the more answers we got, the more questions we had. ” (Garrett, 2015). Over the years, Scientists have learned that there are many organisms associated with causing red tide. The Red tide is literally a living mass of bio-organisms clumped together synergistically. This is what allows the red tide bloom to grow. If conditions are right, Red tide moves closer to shore. An interesting thing learned was that Red tide does not just use sunlight but also consume other single-celled organisms as a nutrient source. ( www. baysoindisng. com, retrieved October4th, 2018).

Conclusion

Overall, Red tide is a big issue for Florida right now. There is still ongoing research to understand and figure out the reason behind why Red tide is so bad this year. We have much more to learn regarding utilization of technology to control Red tide and continue to conduct research in our environment to find ways to stop its growth and destruction of wildlife.