HEALTH

Red tide worsens in St. Lucie, improves in Martin; is Indian River County next? | Map link

Tyler Treadway
Treasure Coast Newspapers
Beachgoers are few and far between Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018, at Bathtub Reef Beach in Stuart. Martin County beaches were left unguarded Sunday afternoon after lifeguards began coughing due to a possible airborne irritant. The FWC has begun testing local waters for red tide, a marine algae, which is lethal to marine life and dangerous for humans.

Red tide continues to move north along the Treasure Coast, with higher levels at some St. Lucie County beaches, but lower levels at some Martin County beaches.

The good news for Indian River County: An algae researcher doesn't think red tide will make it there. 

Comparing results of water samples taken last week with those released late Tuesday by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission shows the northward trend:

  • St. Lucie County beaches with very low levels of red tide Oct. 1 — Dollman Park, Waveland and County Line — had medium levels Monday.
  • One beach, Diamond Sands, jumped from having no red tide to having a medium level Monday.
  • Other beaches that had no red tide Oct. 1 — Walton Rocks, Ocean Bay, Herman's Bay and Normandy — had low levels Monday.

More: Check out the FWC's red tide map

All those beaches are south of the St. Lucie Nuclear Plant; beaches to the north are still red tide-free.

More: Red tide confirmed on St. Lucie County beaches

In Martin County, some beaches are seeing red tide levels drop:

  • Bathtub Beach went from low Oct. 1 to very low Oct. 3
  • Hobe Sound Beach went from low Oct. 3 to medium Friday and not present Monday

More: What is red tide? Here's what you need to know

Beachgoers, lifeguards: No complaints

Despite the higher red tide levels, St. Lucie County officials "aren’t receiving any complaints from beach-goers, and our lifeguards haven’t noticed any issues," said spokesman Erick Gill. 

Andrew Ritchie, the county's head lifeguard, said he "felt no effects at all" after working at Waveland Beach all day Tuesday.

"Hopefully the strong winds from the hurricane blow red tide offshore," Gill said.

Right now, the east winds that have been pushing red tide onto Martin County beaches appear to have shifted to the southeast, blowing the red tide into St. Lucie County, said Malcolm McFarland, a research associate at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce.

If the southeast winds continue, they could blow red tide onto Indian River County beaches. But winds are predicted to shift to the south as Hurricane Michael continues to move north on Florida's Panhandle, McFarland said.

"More southerly winds, plus the south-to-north movement of the Gulf Stream, could help move red tide out of our area," McFarland said.

More:Hurricane Michael could help move red tide off Treasure Coast

The 'Chunk of Bloom' theory

Red tide arrived on the Treasure Coast from the Gulf Coast of Florida, where it's been wreaking environmental havoc for a year, by getting caught up in loop currents that go around the Florida Keys and connect with the Gulf Stream, which carried the algae bloom north.

McFarland doesn't think there's a constant flow of red tide from the Gulf of Mexico to Florida's Atlantic coast.

"It more like was a pulse of the bloom, or a chunk of bloom that got caught up in the currents," he said.

The red tide bloom is like a cloud in the ocean, he said. "It's patchy, with concentrations that will fluctuate from day to day, even hour to hour. So don't read too much into changing numbers. They can rise and fall and rise again."

The increased levels in St. Lucie County, he added, are significant.

"There, you're seeing red tide where it hasn't been before," he said. "Now it's a question of how long it will stay."

What can red tide do to me?

    Here's how the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission categorizes red tide concentrations:

    • Very low levels of red tide, from 1,000 to 10,000 cells per liter can cause "possible" respiratory irritation
    • Low levels, from 10,000 to 100,000 cells per liter, can cause respiratory irritation and "possible fish kills"
    • Medium levels, 100,000 to 1 million cells per liter, can cause respiratory irritation and "probable fish kills"
    • High levels, more than 1 million cells per liter, can cause respiratory irritation, fish kills and discolored water