Red Tide - Charlotte Harbor

[HopCar]

I’m over in Punta Gorda with my buddy Darrell. We took his 25 Aquasport over to Cabage Key today to get some $100 hamburgers.

We had been told that the red tide hadn’t gotten into Charlotte Harbor and it was staying out in the Gulf. I think they were wrong.

We saw thousands of small dead fish and I had breathing problems at certain places during the trip. It felt like I had inhaled an irritating dust. Made me cough.

The food was good and we had a good time, but I sure didn’t like seeing all those dead fish.

Oh yeah, there was beer.

 

[healhustler]

We’re not having any fun up here either, Parks. Dead fish everywhere, and a good percent of the population having respiratory distress. We were chowing down on Cabbage Key burgers only a couple of months ago. Stayed two nights....no red tide but hot. Beautiful place.

 

[sbu22]

$100 hamburger?

 

[HopCar]

The hamburger was $12. The cost to run the boat there made up the rest.

 

[markpierce]

There is also currently a red tide "infection" about Richmond, California. Good thing I don't voluntarily swim.


Mooyah in Walnut Cree, CA makes delicious burgers at a reasonable price. Haven't tried their shakes, but would bet dollar to donuts they are great.

https://www.mooyah.com/

 

[BruceK]

Is red tide red algae?

 

[johnrupp]

Is red tide red algae?

Yes, it’s a naturally occurring algae that forms in the Gulf of Mexico.

John

 

[Capitaine R]

Lake O

Yes, it’s a naturally occurring algae that forms in the Gulf of Mexico.

John

Some people down here may disagree about this extremely large out break being a natural occurring event.

 

[DavidM]

Some people down here may disagree about this extremely large out break being a natural occurring event.

Yes, it may be partially caused by nutrients coming down from Lake Okeechobee and it may be exacerbated by climate warming.


Sad to hear it is up inside at Cabbage Key.



David

 

[bayview]

Okeechobee is not red tide. It is green and is indeed going to Ft. Myers and east to Stewart. Charlotte harbor is probably red tide, a different organism.

 

[cardude01]

I had some beers with an oceanographer who works for NOAA, and he said the red tide actually feeds on the green algae from polluted Okeechobee. So yeah, they are linked.

https://mote.org/news/florida-red-tide#Has coastal (nutrient) pollution caused the Florida red tide?

 

[Dougcole]

You would have to be a fool to believe that the current outbreak of red tide is not linked to fertilizer thick soup being pumped into the area in the billions of gallons from lake o.

Thanks big sugar! Y'all are the best!

 

[HopCar]

You would have to be a fool to believe that the current outbreak of red tide is not linked to fertilizer thick soup being pumped into the area in the billions of gallons from lake o.

Thanks big sugar! Y'all are the best!

I don’t think we can blame Big Sugar. Most if not all of the sugar is grown south and east of the lake. I think the nutrients are coming from farms and cattle ranches north of the lake.

My idea was to grow rice in the nutrient rich water to clean it and then release it South to the Everglades where it is needed. Of course I know nothing about growing rice so it may not work.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
More info from WIKI. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_tide


Worldwide phenomena. No clear, specific, singular cause.

 

[sbu22]

There's pretty strong correlative evidence that the north shift of the Loop Current is a major factor. Red tides have been observed and documented in the Florida Gulf for several hundred years.

 

[FF]

"Red tides have been observed and documented in the Florida Gulf for several hundred years."


STOP !!! Reality is no longer allowed.

 

[Capitaine R]

Lake O

You would have to be a fool to believe that the current outbreak of red tide is not linked to fertilizer thick soup being pumped into the area in the billions of gallons from lake o.

Thanks big sugar! Y'all are the best!

I'm going to have to agree with dougcole on this one. I'm sure Red tide is a natural occurrence, but the water from lake O is making it much worse. I don't care if its big sugar or not. When Sanibel has to remove 309 tons of dead fish from the beach it is not just a natural occurrence any more.

 

[Dougcole]

Two things.

1. I was born and raised in Fort Myers, l grew up living on the water there. I'm 53. Yes, red tide has always been around, it is natural. But nothing even remotely like this. It's the nutrients from the lake run off that are causing it to grow out of control.

2. No, sugar is not the entire problem. There is bad stuff coming into the lake from the north, a lot of it from septic tanks. There are way too many people living in Florida.

But agricultural interests south of the lake pump really nasty water back into the lake whenever we have a wet year, they have done it for a really long time. The very mud in the bottom of the lake is poisened. Also, the only logical solution is to hold water in huge quantity south of the lake while it is treated then flow it south to the glades where it is supposed to go anyway. Maybe using rice to treat it might work, but that would need to be done south of the lake. And the water still would need to flow south, not be pushed into the st Lucie and caloosahatchee rivers.

In order for this to happen sugar is going to have to give up some of the land they control. Something they have refused to do up to this point. I think they will do it eventually, but not until they hold the entire state hostage.

If it weren't for taxpayer subsides it wouldn't be profitable to grow sugar in Florida. We are paying them to poison our water.

 

[SiestaG]

Two things.

1. I was born and raised in Fort Myers, l grew up living on the water there. I'm 53. Yes, red tide has always been around, it is natural. But nothing even remotely like this. It's the nutrients from the lake run off that are causing it to grow out of control.

2. No, sugar is not the entire problem. There is bad stuff coming into the lake from the north, a lot of it from septic tanks. There are way too many people living in Florida.

But agricultural interests south of the lake pump really nasty water back into the lake whenever we have a wet year, they have done it for a really long time. The very mud in the bottom of the lake is poisened. Also, the only logical solution is to hold water in huge quantity south of the lake while it is treated then flow it south to the glades where it is supposed to go anyway. Maybe using rice to treat it might work, but that would need to be done south of the lake. And the water still would need to flow south, not be pushed into the st Lucie and caloosahatchee rivers.

In order for this to happen sugar is going to have to give up some of the land they control. Something they have refused to do up to this point. I think they will do it eventually, but not until they hold the entire state hostage.

If it weren't for taxpayer subsides it wouldn't be profitable to grow sugar in Florida. We are paying them to poison our water.

Amen!

 

[FF]

If it weren't for taxpayer subsides it wouldn't be profitable to grow sugar in Florida. We are paying them to poison our water.

It is my understanding that there are no direct subsadies.

The game is a minimum US price for sugar is mandated , and although the world market price is 1/2 of the mandate , only the connected can get an import license.

All this nonsense helps the sugar beet and other sugar growers.


DRAIN THE SWAMP!

 

[friz]

2. No, sugar is not the entire problem. There is bad stuff coming into the lake from the north, a lot of it from septic tanks. There are way too many people living in Florida.

Please help me here. I often read about septic tanks being "a lot" of the problem. Sewage goes into a septic tank and is digested by bacteria. I understand it is relatively clean water which then flows into a drain field. How are septic tanks contributing to green algae in our waters? I live on a 35 acre rain feed pond here in Florida, 12 years. There are maybe 20 homes around the pond. Some as long as 25 years. My drain field is about 100 feet from the shore of the pond.

 

[bayview]

Okeechobee does not have red tide. It has blue/green algae.
Cattle farming and even dust from Africa ( dried out lake Chad ) are additional suspects in the Okeechobee algae blooms as is restricting historic lake flushing outflow through the everglades.


Spanish explorers reported red tide in the Gulf of Mexico. It is a different organism than algae.

 

[cardude01]

 

[Donsan]

Please help me here. I often read about septic tanks being "a lot" of the problem. Sewage goes into a septic tank and is digested by bacteria. I understand it is relatively clean water which then flows into a drain field. How are septic tanks contributing to green algae in our waters? I live on a 35 acre rain feed pond here in Florida, 12 years. There are maybe 20 homes around the pond. Some as long as 25 years. My drain field is about 100 feet from the shore of the pond.

If the septic tank is fairly new, it is probably in good shape. One problem with septic tanks is many are very old, have cracks and leak and might not have been to today's standards in the first place. But there is no single contributor causing the runoff problem. It is a combination of numerous things treating FL waterways as drainage ditches.

 

[Dougcole]

Yes, it is multiple problems. But we have to start somewhere, and the place to start is south of the lake.

Putnam and big sugar have been using diversionary tactics to protect their interests. Like saying red tide is natural, which is true but hiding that it is out of control now most likely as a result of all the fertilizer/pollution pumped into the gulf and down the rivers.

Pointing a finger at septic tanks is another example. So millions of individual Floridians, many of whom are not well off, should each address their tiny part of the problem, but the main pollutor, who has made millions by manipulating government officials and bilking the taxpayer does nothing?

Sure.

In the meantime, we can't go in the water, people are getting sick, millions of fish and marine mammels are dying, and tourisim dollars are disappearing.

 

[smitty477]

Florida fish and wildlife on red tides...

Red Tide FAQ

 

[DonScatt]

"is restricting historic lake flushing outflow through the everglades."

That's the real problem. Historically, all of the water from Lake O and other places north of that would disperse into the everglades, which acted as a natural filter and flood buffer. Once that land was "sold" to Big Sugar, the water had to be redirected unnaturally into the rivers flowing east and west with no filter and no buffer. Last year the east coast of florida was inundated with the blue-green algae, killing off marshes and destroying marine life. This year it's aggravating the red tide problem on the west coast. All this DESPITE the fact that Florida voters approved a referendum allocating funds to purchase the land back from Sugar, which Rick Scott and Adam Putnam promptly ignored.

We don't get the government we need, we get the government we deserve.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. DS. As I understand it, as a result of the diversion of the natural water flow to the everglades, as you noted above, the various aquifers are unable to refill and are being depleted by human consumption, both rural and urban. Notable increase in sinkholes in FL.

 

[HopCar]

I wasn’t aware of the back pumping, south to north, until Doug mentioned it. I did a little research and found it does happen but not often.

Following is a link to a good story that talks about the whole water management issue. I was wondering where the water that flows into the lake comes from. I looked on Google Earth and was able to follow the Kissimmee River north almost to Orlando.

Back pumping water to Lake Okeechobee brings environmental concerns - Sun Sentinel

 

[FF]

When reality is out of fashion (not PC) hate myths become common.

BIG , anything is always an easy target.

Farmers , all types not just "Big Sugar" use their income to purchase fertilizer.

It is used in minimum amounts to keep the cost down.

If there is a soup of fertilizer washing in to rivers , it is more likely from the thousands of lawns from the thousands of new homes for the thousands of folks escaping the North, weather and taxation.


Like the Chessy lake O drains a huge area and gets it all,and suffers.