Red tide, dead fish, respiratory irritation return to northern Collier beaches

Red tide is beginning to affect northern Collier County beaches again, after a few weeks of relief.  

It had been at least three weeks since county employees had to pick up dead fish on beaches, but the problem returned Thursday morning, said Margie Hapke, a spokeswoman for Collier County.  

“There are on-shore winds now, so it is blowing the red tide toward the beach instead of away from the beach,” Hapke said.  

Although red tide concentration in Collier County has been at natural background levels, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the concentration in northern Collier County increased over the past week.  

Vanderbilt Beach in North Naples was one of the beaches where county employees spent Thursday morning picking up dead fish.  

“The air feels heavier and you can still kind of smell the fish, even though they have been picked up,” said Sean Hanley, an employee at Cabana Dan's beach rental service on Vanderbilt Beach. 

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By the time Hanley got to work at 9 a.m., most of the dead fish already had been cleared from the shore and dumped into a large trash bin near the county-owned parking structure on Vanderbilt Beach Road.  

Still, Hanley said he noticed some coughing and signs of slight irritation from beachgoers throughout the day.  

“We’ve been clear the past few weeks, but the red tide seems to be making its way back into this area,” Hanley said. “Maybe we are running out of luck.”  

However, not all of Collier County saw an increase in red tide concentration. 

Decreased concentrations were observed in southern Lee County and Collier County as a whole, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. 

“I’ve been walking the pier and beach all day and there isn’t a tickle in my throat, any dead fish around or other signs of red tide in the city of Naples,” said Roger Jacobsen, Naples harbormaster, on Thursday.  

A red tide bloom has lingered along the Southwest Florida coast since October, at times stretching from Tampa Bay to the Florida Keys. 

The organism (Karenia brevis) that causes red tide occurs naturally. However, many water quality scientists say the blooms last longer and are more intense due to human activities such as farming and development.  

Robert Ryan, a resident of Fort Myers, visited Barefoot Beach County Preserve in northern Collier County Thursday and said the beach was littered with dead fish.  

"I just walked to the water and counted eight dead fish right in my eyesight," Ryan said. “The further south you head, the better it gets. That’s why we are at Vanderbilt Beach now.” 

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Red tide levels are lower this week in Lee County than they've been in a while, but the toxic algal bloom is still present in local waters.  

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission released its latest red tide report Wednesday, and numbers were mostly medium in Lee County. 

"I was at Bowman’s beach (on Sanibel) Sunday evening, and within seconds of arrival, three children, two adults and two dogs were all coughing like mad," said Heather Barron, director of the animal hospital at the Center for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife. "My throat is still sore." 

Barron is a leading expert on the effects of red tide on animals and humans. 

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She and others have said that although conditions at the beaches may improve at times, the bloom will likely thrive for several more months. 

"Things are now getting worse again, not better," Barron said. "And I expect they will stay bad until spring of 2019." 

Red tide season typically begins in October and ends in January or February, after cooler temperatures and stiff winds out of the north make conditions difficult for blooms to form.