Florida Declares Emergency As Red Tide Blooms

Millions of pounds of dead fish testify to the lethal power of Florida's red tide.

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Toxic algae blooms along Florida's southwestern coast have persisted for months and are taking a deadly toll on marine wildlife. In response, Gov. Rick Scott recently declared a state of emergency in seven coastal counties affected by the algae, which creates a condition known as "red tide."

On Monday (Aug. 13), Scott issued an executive order providing emergency funding and resources that would help communities rescue and protect wildlife and clean up the pervasive algae.

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Red tides (which, despite the name, are not necessarily red) appear in ocean waters when conditions allow naturally occurring single-celled algae — in this case, the toxic Karenia brevis — to multiply and cluster. These blooms occur seasonally in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida, with the red tide typically emerging in the late summer or early fall and lasting three to five months, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

K. brevis produces a neurotoxin that animals (including humans) can ingest or inhale, and its extended presence is turning Florida beaches into gruesome scenes, with scores of dead animals littering the sandy shores. The toxic tide has killed or sickened hundreds of sea turtles, shorebirds and manatees, and the amount of dead fish poisoned by the algae can be measured in millions of pounds, the Naples Daily News reported.

Mindy Weisberger is a science journalist and author of "Rise of the Zombie Bugs: The Surprising Science of Parasitic Mind-Control" (Hopkins Press). She formerly edited for Scholastic and was a channel editor and senior writer for Live Science. She has reported on general science, covering climate change, paleontology, biology and space. Mindy studied film at Columbia University; prior to LS, she produced, wrote and directed media for the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. Her videos about dinosaurs, astrophysics, biodiversity and evolution appear in museums and science centers worldwide, earning awards such as the CINE Golden Eagle and the Communicator Award of Excellence. Her writing has also appeared in Scientific American, The Washington Post, How It Works Magazine and CNN.