Irritating for us, fatal for fish: Red tide’s wicked history on Florida’s east coast

Piles of dead fish. Irritated beachgoers. And relief when it’s finally gone.

Beachside communities celebrated the good news this weekend of having very low or undetectable levels of red tide, just days after the toxic algae shut down beaches from Miami-Dade to Palm Beach counties.

As this red tide vanishes, it’s going down as one of the rare times that the algal bloom plagued Florida’s east coast.

Since the early 1950s, the toxic algae has struck the Gulf of Mexico nearly 60 times, and spread from the Gulf to the Atlantic coast at least nine of those times. Sometimes, the east coast was spared for more than a decade. Other times, the red tide came sporadically, in gaps of two to five years.

Here’s a through-the-years look at red tide’s rare appearances in the east.

September 2007 — January 2008

Historically, red tide has reached every corner of Florida’s waters, from the Panhandle to the Keys, from Cape Canaveral to cities even farther north on the east coast.

A red tide outbreak reportedly reached all the way up to Jacksonville in 2007. It also struck the coast of Central Florida, suspected of killing about 40 sea turtles that washed ashore between Cape Canaveral and Sebastian Inlet.

It also can linger through the holidays. A news article published in the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Dec. 27, 2007, was headlined, “Red tide strikes Treasure Coast.” It warned the public not to stay too long on the beach because Martin County officials were seeing increasing reports of respiratory conditions linked to red tide.

Earlier in 2007, many sea animals also were dying off Florida’s west coast. State officials suspected red tide killed dozens of manatees whose bodies were found in Lee County waters.

November 2002 — December 2002

The red tide we saw off South Florida in 2018 was initially detected in Palm Beach County, in a region where the Gulf Stream passes closest to land. Red tide reaches the Atlantic coast by riding the Gulf’s Loop current, the flow of water that travels through the Gulf and up the Atlantic seaboard.

Other years, the algal bloom has first appeared in counties farther north of Palm Beach County.

In November 2002, the toxic algae afflicted Brevard and Martin counties before being detected in Palm Beach County. During the outbreak, beachgoers from Brevard through Martin complained of respiratory irritation.

In early December 2002, health officials confirmed red tide reached the northern coast of Palm Beach County. They, too, warned beachgoers that they could experience coughing and wheezing, as well as eye, throat and nose irritation.

In the early 2000s, the term for Florida’s red tide organism, Karenia brevis, began appearing in news articles. That’s because it was newly named after Karen Steidinger, a renowned researcher who studied Florida’s red tide for decades. (Previously, it was called Gymnodinium breve.)

September 1999 — October 1999

Red tide thrived in the Jacksonville area in October 1999, with the algae killing fish and causing breathing problems for some beachgoers.

It vanished soon after. “Not a day too soon,” a lifeguard captain at Jacksonville Beach told The Associated Press at the time. “It bothered us immensely.”

Winds from the west side of Hurricane Irene apparently moved the red tide farther down the coast. Red tide also was found near Daytona Beach and blamed for fish kills at Canaveral National Seashore.

1998

A Sun Sentinel article from Jan. 23, 1998, was headlined, “Red tide irritates beachgoers.”

It detailed how beachgoers from Lake Worth to Delray Beach were complaining of respiratory problems or eye irritation from an algae bloom not far offshore. And lifeguards began coughing, leading them to start using surgical masks. “It’s the red tide, and we don’t see that very often on Florida’s east coast,” an environmental specialist was quoted as saying.

In late 1998, hotel operators in Daytona Beach were relieved when the red tide no longer posed a threat. They feared that if the outbreak continued, it would lead vacationers to cancel their Christmas reservations.

Red tide outbreaks off the east coast also occurred in 1983 and 1997, according to state records, though additional details weren’t available.

1980

Three-hundred commercial shellfishermen were idle off Daytona Beach while the wide beaches were all but deserted because of red tide, according to an article published by the Fort Lauderdale News on Dec. 8, 1980.

“People were driving away from the beach and heading to the nearest service station to wash out their eyes,” a patrol officer said at the time.

In Cape Canaveral, 15 people working with the Space Shuttle program were exposed to an irritating mist and experienced a burning sensation. “Even if the red tide reached a high point off the Cape, the shuttle program would not be affected,” the Space Shuttle program’s director vowed.

A 16-mile stretch of the beach north of Cape Canaveral also proved painful for swimmers and picnickers.

1972

In November 1972, a red tide outbreak was reported from the southern part of Palm Beach County as far north as Hobe Sound. And dead fish were seen off Lake Worth and Delray Beach.

The outbreak led officials to head out to sea for additional traces of red tide, staying on the lookout for any more dead fish.

— This news article was supplemented with information provided by Kelly Richmond, with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. There also was an outbreak in November 1957, according to state data provided by Richmond, although additional details weren’t available.

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