![]() Inhaling it can cause respiratory issues and feel like “you’re starting to get a cold,” Heil said. Waves can break open the algae cells and release the toxin into the air. In large numbers, these microscopic organisms also pose a threat to human health. “This little one-cell plant may actually be farming.” “The toxins have to have a purpose, and it might be killing fish to get the nutrients,” said Cynthia Heil, director of the Red Tide Institute at Florida’s Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium. ![]() Rotting fish essentially fertilize the water, which in turn creates more algae. While scientists aren’t sure why the algae make toxins, one interesting theory is that it’s to kill fish by design. brevis produces brevetoxin, an odorless neurotoxin that can be fatal to fish and other marine animals. But on occasion, they grow uncontrollably and start wreaking havoc on marine ecosystems. Normally, the blooms - which can be a rusty red in hue - last for only a few months and impact a relatively small area. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Karenia brevis, a type of marine algae responsible for Florida red tides. Starting in late summer, a deep-water current in the Gulf tends to move east toward Florida, causing an upwelling of nutrients like phosphorous and nitrogen that feed the algae and push them toward the coast, where they find other sources of nutrients. While they don’t always make national news, blooms of K. It’s a type of marine algae, or phytoplankton, native to the Gulf of Mexico. Octavio Jones/Getty Images How a microscopic creature can kill so many fishĭead fish, ruined vacations, and other consequences of Florida’s red tide can be tied to just one tiny species: Karenia brevis. Thousands of dead fish killed by red tide in Boca Ciega Bay in Madeira Beach, Florida. And while these events are not necessarily becoming more common, as you might expect, climate change is making them much harder to forecast - and Florida’s booming population is making them far more visible. Red tides in Florida result from a complicated set of variables, from ocean currents to weather patterns, researchers have learned. The state’s current governor, Ron DeSantis, has rebuffed calls from environmental groups to declare a state of emergency for this year’s red tide. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency, as Vox’s Brian Resnick previously reported. ![]() The last major red tide was just three years ago, when then-Gov. Now scientists are racing to determine what makes a year particularly bad for red tides - and whether they’re becoming more common. The algae have not only killed untold thousands of fish and more than a dozen manatees but also sickened some beachgoers, who can experience respiratory issues when the toxins become airborne. While algal blooms are a natural phenomenon in southwest Florida - and across much of the world - they’re typically not this severe. They were killed by an overgrowth of toxic algae, known as red tide, that came inland earlier this summer. In the past three weeks, more than 1,700 tons of dead fish and other marine organisms and debris have washed ashore along beaches near Tampa Bay. The scenes from western Florida are hard to stomach: fish carcasses dotting beaches for miles, a backhoe lifting a 400-pound goliath grouper out of the water, hundreds of sharks swimming through neighborhoods, and hordes of maggots wriggling along the shore. ![]()
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