Capricious red tide extending along Florida's west coast threatens fish and tourism
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Associated Press] - September 23, 2014 -
It's Florida's version of the Blob. Slow-moving glops of toxic algae in the northeast Gulf of Mexico are killing sea turtles, sharks and other fish, and threatening the waters and beaches that fuel the region's economy.
Known as red tide, this particular strain - Karenia brevis - is present nearly every year off Florida, but large blooms can be devastating. The tide is collecting off St. Petersburg and stretching north to Florida's Big Bend, where the peninsula ends and the panhandle begins.
"This red tide . . . will likely cause considerable damage to our local fisheries and our tourist economy over the next few months," said Heyward Mathews, an emeritus professor of oceanography at St. Petersburg College who has studied the issue for decades..
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