Help Support EcoWatch
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience while browsing it. By clicking 'Got It' you're accepting these terms.
Most recent
Trending
Top Videos
The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!
A Lake Worth lifeguard wearing a protective mask asks a surfer to exit the ocean as Palm Beach County officials announced that all county beaches are closed due to red tide affecting coastal areas on October 4, 2018 in Lake Worth, Florida. Joe Raedle / Getty Images
The same red tide choking Florida's Gulf coast has spread to waters off Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, forcing the closure of many popular beaches on Thursday and leaving hundreds of dead fish in its wake, according to local reports.
This is the first time in decades the toxic algae has affected both of Florida's coasts at the same time, the Associated Press reported.
<p style="">
"Florida's environment is now enduring a full-peninsula assault," Eve Samples wrote for
<a href="https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/florida-voices/2018/10/04/florida-voters-sick-environment-literally/1498039002/" target="_blank">Treasure Coast Newspapers</a>, noting that it's only the eighth time since the 1950s that red tide has been documented on the East Coast of Florida.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="acbffdf8aa81bbbcd3ea1cb52aa887b6"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FsYuU-4qRBM?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
</p>
<p style="">Several South Florida beaches reopened on Friday, the
<a href="http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-ne-red-tide-thursday-20181004-story.html" target="_blank">The Sun Sentinel</a> reported, but noted that a new forecast said "moderate" red tide conditions can be expected in the area at least through Tuesday.<br></p><p>
The outbreak of the
<em>Karenia brevis</em> organism first appeared last fall and has become one of the state's longest-lasting red tides on record. It has devastated Florida's marine life all summer, killing countless crabs, eels, fish, dozens of <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/red-tide-algae-killing-florida-wildlife_us_5b61cb2be4b0b15aba9ee150" target="_blank">manatees</a> and hundreds of endangered <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/red-tide-sea-turtles-dead-2590387089.html" target="_self">sea turtles</a>. The bloom has also been costly for the state's tourism industry and become a public health issue because it can irritate skin and cause respiratory problems.
</p><p style="">
The bloom now stretches roughly 135 miles along Florida's southwest coast.
</p><p style="">
In August, Gov. Rick Scott issued an
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/florida-emergency-order-red-tide-2595877043.html">executive order</a> declaring a state of emergency in seven southwestern counties and offered $1.5 million in aid. On Thursday, Gov. Scott announced $3 million in grants to St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties to help mitigate the effects of red tide.
</p><p style="">
"In Florida, when presented with problems, we work together and face them head on—red tide is no different," he said in a
<a href="https://www.flgov.com/2018/10/04/gov-scott-dep-to-provide-3-million-for-red-tide-on-floridas-east-coast/" target="_blank">press release</a>. "So far, the state has provided more than $16 million to help minimize the impacts of harmful algal blooms and expand our research and understanding of red tide, including funding to help scientists test innovative solutions for this phenomenon. We will continue to work with our local partners to ensure that their needs are fully met until this year's red tide subsides."
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1048251564887040001" id="twitter-embed-1048251564887040001" type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1048251564887040001&created_ts=1538757623.0&screen_name=noaaocean&text=NOAA+now+posting+respiratory+illness+forecast+for+east+coast+of+%23Florida+in+response+to+new+red+tide+bloom.+See+lat%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FJZ662ssV3y&id=1048251564887040001&name=NOAA%27s+Ocean+Service" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="DIGBQC1576662119"></iframe>
</p><p style="">
Red tides can appear naturally, however some blame the phenomenon from increased nutrient pollution from human activities.
</p><p style="">
At the same time, as
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-causing-floridas-algae-crisis-5-questions-answered-101305" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> reported, a concurrent outbreak of blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, has plagued downstream estuaries on both coasts. The bloom comes from discharges of polluted fresh water from Lake Okeechobee and polluted local runoff water from the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee watersheds.
</p><p style="">
<span></span>Gov. Scott, who has served for eight years, has faced a share of the blame for the state's red tide and blue-green algae outbreaks.
</p><p>
<span></span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2018/08/09/florida-an-environmental-crisis-takes-center-stage-tight-senate-race/?utm_term=.a62182654114" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported in August:
</p><blockquote style="margin-left: 20px;">
During Scott's tenure, budgets for environmental agencies have been sharply reduced. The budget of the South Florida Water Management District, which oversees water issues from Orlando to Key West, was cut. Many of the more than 400 workers who lost their jobs in the $700 million cut were scientists and engineers whose jobs were to monitor pollution levels and algal blooms. Scott also abolished the Department of Community Affairs, which oversaw development in the state.
</blockquote><p style="">
Sen. Bill Nelson, who is battling Scott to keep his Senate seat, tweeted Friday: "The people of Florida know how Rick Scott's disastrous environmental policies have harmed our waters and devastated communities. Their voices are being heard loud and clear."
</p><p style="">
Pointing the finger back, Scott has accused Nelson of failing to secure federal funds to fix the aging Lake Okeechobee dyke.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1048223681045045254" id="twitter-embed-1048223681045045254" type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1048223681045045254&created_ts=1538750975.0&screen_name=NelsonForSenate&text=The+people+of+Florida+know+how+Rick+Scott%27s+disastrous+environmental+policies+have+harmed+our+waters+and+devastated%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FGGvX8tfiOB&id=1048223681045045254&name=Bill+Nelson" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="PR5VKL1576662119"></iframe>
</p>
Read More
Show Less
Mom and baby West Indian manatees in Three Sisters Springs, Florida. James R.D. Scott / Getty Images
2018 has not been a good year for Florida's iconic manatees. A total of 540 sea cows have died in the last eight months, surpassing last year's total of 538 deaths, according to figures posted Monday by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
The figure will likely climb higher before the year's end amid the state's ongoing toxic algae crisis. The red tide in the state's southwest is the known or suspected cause of death for 97 manatees as of Aug. 12, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission recently reported.
<p>
Combined with the winter cold spell, which claimed 69 manatees, more than 10 percent of the state's estimated manatee population of around 6,300 individuals could be wiped out this year, PEER noted. </p><p>
<span></span>The 540 reported deaths is also the second highest total in a decade. The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/2013-deadliest-year-on-record-for-manatees-1881848826.html" target="_blank">deadliest year on record</a> was 2013, when 830 Florida manatees perished. A third of those deaths were also linked to red tide.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODMyNTMzOS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNjQ1NDkzMX0.f4wBlisLj9KmO1_lStjLXcuxTqDc5AE3ep3ODYrnj0o/img.png?width=980" id="7705d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c3731d77aa24b784a9b9defab551ad20" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">PEER</small>
</p><p style="">
Other threats to the gentle giants include blue-green <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/algal-blooms">algal blooms</a> along Florida's east coast as well as boat strikes, which resulted in 75 manatee deaths, according to
<a href="https://www.savethemanatee.org/news/oped/red-tide-watercraft-strikes-and-the-esa-under-attack-tough-year-for-the-florida-manatee/" target="_blank">Save the Manatee Club</a>.
</p><p style="">
"Florida's manatees have no defense against this ecological disaster," said PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch in a statement, noting that red tides and algal blooms poison both manatees and their food supplies. "Florida's steadily declining water quality is a death warrant for the manatee."
</p><p style="">
<span></span>Red tide, which is caused by the Karenia brevis organism, is a natural phenomenon but some have blamed <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change" target="_blank">climate change</a> for worsening the crisis, as well as mining and agricultural practices that can cause excess nutrients to flush into the waters.
</p><p style="">
In a
<a href="https://www.peer.org/news/news-releases/manatee-deaths-in-2018-already-top-last-year%E2%80%99s-high-toll.html" target="_blank">press release</a> Monday, PEER said it has documented a "precipitous decline in water pollution enforcement under <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/rick-scott">Governor Rick Scott</a>, as well as the massive amounts of phosphorus and other nutrients discharged daily both legally and illegally into Florida's waters."
</p><p>
"The increased duration, scale, and toxicity of red tide and algal bloom events should be an eco-wakeup call for Florida," Ruch added. "Governor Scott has
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/florida-emergency-order-red-tide-2595877043.html">declared a red tide emergency</a> but the role his own environmental policies have played in spawning this crisis deserves examination."
</p><p style="">
<span></span>Last year, the West Indian manatee was downlisted from "endangered" to "threatened" by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Conservationists felt that the downgrade came too soon.
</p><p style="">
"We believe this is a devastating blow to manatees," Patrick Rose, executive director of
<a href="https://www.savethemanatee.org/" target="_blank">Save the Manatee Club</a>, said in a <a href="https://www.savethemanatee.org/news/press-releases/highly-controversial-federal-action-puts-manatees-in-harms-way/" target="_blank">statement</a> then. "A federal reclassification at this time will seriously undermine the chances of securing the manatee's long-term survival. With the new federal administration threatening to cut 75 percent of regulations, including those that protect our wildlife and air and water quality, the move to downlist manatees can only be seen as a political one."
</p><p style="">
Save the Manatee Club said that FWS "failed to adequately consider data from 2010 to 2016, during which time manatees suffered from unprecedented mortality events linked to habitat pollution, dependence on artificial warm water sources, and record deaths from watercraft strikes."
</p><p>
Florida's deadly red tide started nine months ago and has become the state's longest on record since 2006. Besides manatees, the outbreak has killed scores of marine life, including countless crabs, eels and fish, hundreds of endangered
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/red-tide-sea-turtles-dead-2590387089.html" target="_blank">sea turtles</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/08/03/a-red-tide-ravaging-florida-may-have-killed-a-whale-shark-for-the-first-known-time/" target="_blank">potentially a whale shark</a> and <a href="https://www.wfla.com/news/sarasota-county/11th-deceased-dolphin-believed-to-be-first-local-victim-of-red-tide/1365484017" target="_blank">11 bottlenose dolphins</a>.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1029714874581114880" id="twitter-embed-1029714874581114880" type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1029714874581114880&created_ts=1534338131.0&screen_name=EcoWatch&text=%23Florida+Gov.+Scott+Issues+Emergency+Order+for+Toxic+%23RedTide+%23algaebloom+%40flgovscott+++https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FfrBZ44nxGz&id=1029714874581114880&name=EcoWatch" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="XMO4K71576683805"></iframe>
</p>
From Your Site Articles
- What Is Causing Florida's Algae Crisis? 5 Questions Answered ›
- Florida Gov. Scott Issues Emergency Order for Toxic Red Tide ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Florida Gov. Rick Scott issued an executive order Monday declaring a state of emergency due to the ongoing impacts of red tide in seven southwestern counties.
The algae outbreak started nine months ago and has become the state's longest on record since 2006. The red tide has killed scores of marine life, including countless crabs, eels and fish, as well as dozens of manatees, hundreds of endangered sea turtles, potentially a whale shark and 11 bottlenose dolphins.
<p style="">
<span></span>The toxic bloom, which is caused by the Karenia brevis organism, has become a public health concern. Residents along the southwest coast have <a href="http://myfwc.com/redtidestatus" target="_blank">reported</a> respiratory problems due to winds picking up the aerosolized toxins. People can also become ill after consuming contaminated seafood.
</p><p style="">
Harmful algal blooms can cause about $82 million in economic losses to the seafood, restaurant and tourism industries according to
<a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/why_habs.html" target="_blank">NOAA</a>.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODMwMTA4NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MTA0OTEwN30.9mFmjz5pshCy3XSFaGTM__Q96MzhPy4ia1GHS420dzo/img.jpg?width=980" id="e2a9c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="521a8dc573c6f37fe94298eb1cfc4dab" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Red Tide Status Map, August 10, 2018.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission</small>
</p><p style="">
Scott's emergency was declared for Collier, Lee, Charlotte, Sarasota, Manatee, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
</p><p>
"I am issuing an emergency declaration to provide significant funding and resources to the communities experiencing red tide, so we can combat its terrible impacts," Scott said in a
<a href="https://www.flgov.com/2018/08/13/gov-scott-issues-emergency-order-for-red-tide/" target="_blank">news release</a>. "This includes making additional FWC (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) biologists and scientists available to assist in clean-up and animal rescue efforts."
</p><p style="">
The executive order will direct $1.5 million in funds to state agencies, including $100,000 for Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium to increase its response to red tide impacts, $900,000 for hard-hit Lee County's cleanup efforts and $500,000 for <a href="https://www.visitflorida.com/en-us.html" target="_blank">VISIT FLORIDA</a> to establish an emergency grant program to help the affected communities bring in tourists.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1029105487273504769" id="twitter-embed-1029105487273504769" type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1029105487273504769&created_ts=1534192842.0&screen_name=SenRickScott&text=Today%2C+I+issued+an+emergency+declaration+to+help+SW+FL+and+Tampa+Bay+area+combat+impacts+from+red+tide.+We%E2%80%99re+direc%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2F4JUdWz2EvA&id=1029105487273504769&name=Rick+Scott" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="WAT65U1576662123"></iframe>
</p><p style="">
Red tide is a natural phenomenon but some have pointed fingers at
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change">climate change</a>, as well as mining and agricultural practices that can cause excess nutrients to flush into the waters.
</p><p>
Gov. Scott, who has served for eight years, has also faced a share of the blame for the state's frequent red tide and blue-green algae outbreaks.
</p><p style="">
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2018/08/09/florida-an-environmental-crisis-takes-center-stage-tight-senate-race/?utm_term=.a62182654114" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported last week: </p><blockquote>During Scott's tenure, budgets for environmental agencies have been sharply reduced. The budget of the South Florida Water Management District, which oversees water issues from Orlando to Key West, was cut. Many of the more than 400 workers who lost their jobs in the $700 million cut were scientists and engineers whose jobs were to monitor pollution levels and algal blooms. Scott also abolished the Department of Community Affairs, which oversaw development in the state.
</blockquote><p style="">
Scott, who is battling incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson for the U.S. Senate, has accused Nelson and the federal government for "allowing discharges of tainted water from Lake Okeechobee that have led to ugly, smelly and potentially dangerous algal blooms in places including the state's St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers," the Post wrote.
</p><p>
"Washington politician Bill Nelson made a pledge 30 years ago to solve this problem," Scott's television
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kht2vAtfOkQ" target="_blank">ad</a> declares. "But Nelson's a talker, not a doer."
</p><p>
<span></span>Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla), visited Mote Marine Lab Monday and spoke with its scientists about ways to combat red tide. Earlier this year, Congress <a href="https://buchanan.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/buchanan-legislation-fight-red-tide-passed-congress" target="_blank">successfully passed</a> a Buchanan-sponsored bill that added $8 million to combat toxic algae blooms.
</p><p>
Buchanan hopes to know how much of that funding will go to Florida in the coming days, the
<a href="https://www.bradenton.com/news/local/article216615315.html" target="_blank">Bradenton Herald</a> reported.
</p><p style="">
"We need more scientists, we need more answers. There's still a lot of questions," he said, according to the Herald. "I've heard for many years of red tide being a natural occurrence, and I'm sure that's the case (for) hundreds of years, but I think there are things aggravating a lot of this and we've got to get serious about it. Because it affects animals and tourism and (the) value of real estate. We've got to get whatever resources we need and I think we'll do it on a bipartisan basis. I think enough is enough."
</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Nearly 300 Sea Turtles Dead as Red Tide Plagues Southwest Florida ›
- What Is Causing Florida's Algae Crisis? 5 Questions Answered ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less