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NEW red tide and water condition report


Drummer

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Southwest Fl. thrives on tourism, as a mater of fact the whole state of Fl. depends on tourism. It's the biggest source of revenue for the State. When the Red Tide effects enough peoples incomes and especially small business incomes, you will see some change. Unless I missed it, I don't see many political adds addressing this issue.

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Copied from FWC website;

Is red tide a new phenomenon?
No, red tides were documented in the southern Gulf of Mexico as far back as the 1700s and along Florida's Gulf coast in the 1840s. Fish kills near Tampa Bay were even mentioned in the records of Spanish explorers.

Has coastal (nutrient) pollution caused the Florida red tide?
In contrast to the many red tide species that are fueled by nutrient pollution associated with urban or agricultural runoff, there is no direct link between nutrient pollution and the frequency or severity of red tides caused by K. brevis. Florida red tides develop 10-40 miles offshore, away from man-made nutrient sources. Red tides occurred in Florida long before human settlement, and severe red tides were observed in the mid-1900s before the state’s coastlines were heavily developed. However, once red tides are transported inshore, they are capable of using man-made nutrients for their growth.

So, the Red Tide has been around for hundreds of years and there is probably nothing we can do to stop it, but we can stop feeding the Red Tide when it reaches the beaches.

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16 hours ago, Drummer said:

We need national coverage on this issue. I am in Charlotte, NC now and nobody up here is reporting anything. I watch the national news regularly in the AM and it's usually all politics and really dumb commercials. This environmental disaster affects everyone, regardless of political slant. Sad. 

A station in Lexington, KY covered it because of some locals going down and having to cut their vaca short. They hardly scratched the surface but they were bringing attention to the negative impact of the red tide issues. 

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Saw some posts on another board where the tide is in the Gasp Snd area and some guides are looking for fresh water options.  

My 17y.o. Son and friend justreturned from Naples. They spent a day joy riding around PI snd on afriend’s go fast boat. Lunch atCabbage. Theysaid it was tough to breath and lots ofdead fish.  

NationAl media has ro get interested in this. Would be a hit to tourism but a resolution needs to get under way. 

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Yesterday, I launched the boat at the Placida Park boat ramp. Spoke with a commercial fishing/crabber who was taking his Carolina Skiff out of the water. He told me the red tide is pretty much gone from the area. I also spoke with two other guys who had just pulled out their Shallow Sports tunnel boat. They reported having a hot bite in the morning on artificials. It was a pleasure day for me and my daughter. Went out and anchored off the beach at Cayo Costa. there were no freshly dead fish on the beach. There are some dead fish, but they look to be a few weeks old. No respiratory problems. I was down on Captiva a few weeks ago and it was really bad. We ran down the outside of Cayo Costa and then up inside to Cabbage Key. We did see SOME dead baitfish floating inside, but it is about 1% of how bad it was a few weeks ago, when I saw acres of floating dead baitfish just south of Cabbage Key. Ate lunch at Cabbage Key at 1:30 pm on a Sunday (yesterday) and there weren't many people there. A girl working the gift shop told me their business has been adversely effected by the reports of red tide. Hopefully the red tide will continue to diminish. 

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Man, that’s good to hear. Maybe this mess will push off and clear up. I feel bad for all the residents down there dealing with this. I’m just a tourist and love fishing down there and I’ve been glued to the situation. Definitely does t sound like an easy fix

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Last weekend we went to Bonita Springs and didn't even go near the beach. My wife started getting cough, postnasal drip and bronchial irritation, until the wind changed to the East and then she cleared (also took an antihistaminic)

We may go again this weekend, if we do I'll try going out and I'll post any changes. 

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Since reports were encouraging, we decided take the HPX for a spin and survey Estero Bay

It was a sad view!!

EVERY PINFISH ON THE FLATS IS DEAD!!

I didn’t see any live ones

this line of debris was more than a mile long where I was.

99% were pinfish.

Outside the “tide line” on the picture were lots of everything else, catfish, mullets, mojarras, sheephead, snook, few black drum too

No Pelicans, no Gulls, no Osprey or Eagles.

No Dolphins either!

NO BOATS! on a Saturday at noon!!

All docking spaces open at the restaurant and marina

NO CHARTERS

BAITSHOPS EMPTY

😢😢😢😡😡😡

 

C7F1B46D-C2EC-4D65-B1BD-3439C912B664.jpeg

86121309-5AFC-4ABB-896A-E68092908F20.jpeg

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 Had a friend coming down to visit me in Englewood last week (Aug. 21, 22, 23). I decided to go out and scout for fish in hopes that I could take him fishing. Found a area of clean water and saw several Snook, 3 Redfish, Mullet and lots of Pinfish. My friend arrived late on Tues and we fished Wed morning. Caught juvenile Ladyfish for bait and headed for the fishing hole. We caught several Snook and had two large ones on that broke us off in the bushes. My friend caught his first Snook. Also caught an oversized Redfish and saw Redfish chasing (following) the Snook we were catching.

We had fun and thought everything was great, until the next morning when we returned to the same hole to fish again. We found several Snook and an oversized Redfish floating (dead).  We did not see any other floating (dead) fish in any other area. So, I can only conclude that the dead fish we saw were the same fish we caught and released the day before. Apparently they were already sick and the added stress of being caught was enough to finish them off.  We decided not to fish anymore for fear of killing more fish.

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Forgot to mention my weird encounter with a nice Snook. I use my trolling motor to scout for fish and have do so for many years. When I find Snook, without exception they will move to the left or right of the boat. Usually smaller Snook will move toward the shallow water and larger Snook will move toward deeper water. When my friend and I decided not to fish, for fear of killing more fish, we decided to use the trolling motor to scout the area. We approached a nice Snook (about 36" or so) in 3 feet of water. The fish did not even try to avoid the boat as they have always done in the past. Instead the fish just buried itself in the grass and I ran right over the fish with the trolling motor. That's the weirdest thing I ever saw a Snook do. Just confirmed my suspicions that the fish in that area were feeling the effects of the Red Tide.

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