It’s not just tourists who invade Florida in the summer.
The colorfully named, obnoxious and sometimes deadly microorganisms known as red tide and blue green algae also take advantage of the change in temperature to proliferate. And it causes major problems.
Both types of algae bloom are starting to make their presence known along some of southwestern Florida’s most beautiful shorelines. Whether they’re moving in for the summer or just teasing remains to be seen.
Many of those who make their living on the water are fairly sanguine about it.
“I believe red tide is going to be here with us every summer,” said Rafael Rios, who has owned a charter fishing boat out of St. Petersburg for 15 years but said he has been fishing the waters of Tampa Bay for 40 years. “There’s years we don’t see any. There’s years we see a lot more.”
3 years ago, a massive algae bloom in Florida killed 200 tons of marine life It s threatening again ktvz.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ktvz.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Local conservation groups have notified the state, Manatee County Port Authority and HRK Holdings of a lawsuit that they plan to file in the coming weeks over the wastewater breach in April at the former Piney Point fertilizer plant.
The lawsuit seeks to shed light on the involvement that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection had in decisions leading to two emergency situations at the former fertilizer facility during the past decade. The DEP and the state have basically just been pointing the finger at HRK and saying we are going to bring all our resources to hold them accountable, but I think they need to be introspective, said Justin Bloom, founder of the Suncoast Waterkeeper. The facts will show they (the DEP) have been in control of this facility for 20 years.
WMNF | Environmental groups to sue Florida DEP, HRK, others over Piney Point breach wmnf.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wmnf.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Red Tide is cause of concern near Piney Point discharge in Tampa Bay
âWeâre still at the very beginning of the Piney Point spill in Tampa Bay,â an environmental advocate says.
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A fisherman traverses a shipping channel on Friday off the coastal mangrove estuaries of Bishop Harbor and the Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve near Port Manatee. [ DOUGLAS R. CLIFFORD | Tampa Bay Times ]
Updated 4 hours ago
TAMPA BAY â About 11 miles separate the area around Port Manatee, where an estimated 215 million gallons of wastewater were recently released into Tampa Bay, and the spot off Manatee County where water samples this week turned up a dreaded result: