As red tide and blue-green algae blooms ebb, our waters get a break | Thumb up

Here's a little good news to start the new year:

The color-coded calamities that have hammered Florida waters in recent years have taken a break.

The red tide bloom that caused fish kills along the Gulf Coast during the autumn months has dissipated, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. And as for blue-green algae, only scattered blooms can be found on a map produced by the Department of Environmental Protection — some in Lake Okeechobee near Clewiston, a few in the C-43 canal and Caloosahaatchee River west of the lake toward Fort Myers on the Gulf Coast.

Those blooms are nontoxic; a bloom in Lake Trafford at Immokalee did contain the toxin microcystin, but in a very small amount.

Researchers say the algae goes through growth cycles, with colder weather tamping down on blooms in winter. But even if the respite is only temporary — we'll take it.