FLAGLER

Red tide hasn't reached Volusia/Flagler coasts yet

Dinah Voyles Pulver
dpulver@gatehousemedia.com

Red tide has arrived on Florida’s east coast, prompting worries that the toxic algae could show up on beaches in Volusia and Flagler counties for the first time in more than a decade.

The algae bloom has plagued Florida’s west coast for months, sickening people and piling up dead fish, manatees, turtles and other marine life along Southwest Florida beaches.

Since red tide arrived at Jupiter Inlet in Southeastern Florida and along beaches in Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, scattered beach closures have occurred and fish kills have been reported.

So far, it hasn't been reported north of Saint Lucie County. But already in social media posts a few residents of Volusia and Flagler counties have expressed fears it could move north.

A red tide bloom lingered here for two months in October and November 2007, forcing lifeguards to don face masks and killing marine life. Red tide and fish kills also were reported in October 1999 along Flagler, Volusia and St. Johns counties.

Eric Sutton, the executive director of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, understands the concern.

“Red tide is impactful,” Sutton said late last week.

State officials and several nonprofits are monitoring the advance and impacts of the algae bloom and trying to get more information to the public, Sutton said. The commission launched an interactive map this week to show the results of daily water samples and allow Floridians to track where the algae has been found and at what concentrations.

In total, the red tide bloom known by the scientific name of Karenia Brevis has been detected along about one third of Florida’s 663 miles of sandy beaches over the past week. Human respiratory irritation was reported in nine counties, including St. Lucie, Martin and Palm Beach counties on the east coast and in Okaloosa County in the Panhandle.

But red tide typically behaves differently on the east coast than the west coast of the state, said Sutton. It’s “nearly a yearly occurrence” somewhere on Florida’s west coast, he said. But, since 1957, state records show red tide has only been documented on the state’s Atlantic coast nine times.

Because of the Gulf Stream, water currents and prevailing winds, red tide “is normally relatively transient” on the east coast, said Sutton. “It‘s just not the same dynamic” or oceanographic system.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s five-day forecast for red tide does not indicate an appearance along local beaches. But it’s not an exact science.

“It can be very difficult to predict exactly what’s going to happen with the ocean currents,” said Malcolm McFarland, a phytoplankton ecologist at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute with Florida Atlantic University. “There’s always the chance of it being moved further in to the shore and further north of where it’s been so far,”

“You’re at the mercy of the winds and the currents as to where it shows up,” said Sutton, who is frustrated not only with the scope, duration and toll of the red tide bloom, but also with misinformation circulating about the algae bloom and its impacts. “Red tide is not this blanket surrounding the state. It’s a patchy occurrence. You can literally have it on one beach in Sarasota and a mile down the beach you don’t.”

McFarland said there’s “a lot that people don’t understand about this stuff.”

In testing last week, the bloom was “most dense off Jupiter Inlet,” said McFarland, who has been collecting ocean water samples since the first reports of irritation were received.

In all cases, the algae has been in low to moderate densities, he said. But there’s “definitely enough neurotoxins to cause a mild reaction.”

McFarland has experienced some irritation in his own throat as he collected samples. He expects to see the bloom move northward, carried by the Gulf Stream, but out to sea rather than along the coast.

It’s likely the bloom arrived on the Southeast Florida coast courtesy of the Gulf of Mexico loop current, which brings the algae around the southern tip of the state and up the east coast via the Gulf Stream.

A 2007 red tide algae bloom locally began in a similar way. It started on the Gulf Coast, but then FWC scientists said it was likely carried through the loop current along the coast of Florida to Delaware — the farthest north it had ever been spotted — in September that year. By October, it had been reported in Mosquito Lagoon in Volusia County.

At the time, the chief ranger at Canaveral National Seashore called it the worst red tide outbreak he had ever seen. Thousands of fish, 42 turtles, nine manatees and eight dolphins were killed along Volusia, St. Lucie, Brevard and Indian River counties in November and December 2007.

By January 2008, the red tide bloom had dissipated in every county except Brevard, where it lingered in the Indian River Lagoon. The bloom resulted in the closing of shellfish beds in Volusia County for more than two months, because toxins produced by the blooms concentrate in shellfish.

Called red tide because of the color it turns the water, the Karenia brevis organism produces neurotoxins called brevetoxins that can affect the central nervous systems of many animals, causing them to die. Blooms can vary in density and scope, based on conditions including sunlight, nutrients, salinity and wind and water currents, according to NOAA.

Wave action on beaches breaks open the algae cells and releases the toxins into the air. Those toxins affect the lungs, respiratory and immune systems of people and some marine life.

Discovery of the bloom prompted a flurry of activity along Florida's southeast coast last week. Sutton said the commission met with county administrators and county staff all along the coast from Dade County to the St. Lucie River.

The commission regularly monitors sites around Florida for a variety of potential algae blooms, Sutton said. When a station detects red tide, the agency implements an expanded monitoring program that relies on a network of partners including local governments, academic organizations and citizen volunteers.

The system is well developed on the state's west coast, where red tide is spotted somewhere almost yearly, he said. Fishing guides, fishermen and others have sample bottles on hand for testing. The expanded sampling and testing helps the state to understand the extent and severity of a bloom.

On the east coast, the system is not quite so organized. But Sutton said over the past week they’ve quickly put together a network to help collect samples. The commission has 10 scientists using microscopes to look at water samples seven days a week, he said. They have to be skilled to say it’s red tide to avoid false negatives or false positives.

As they work to deal with the red tide and its fallout, the FWC and other state officials repeatedly point out that red tide is naturally occurring. Karenia brevis is one of more than 300 similar algae species worldwide that produce deadly toxins when they bloom. Red tide was first recorded here in the 16th century, when a Spanish explorer recorded Indian stories about red water that killed birds and fish.

But the role that human-caused pollution and discharges of polluted water from Lake Okeechobee play in the persistence, volume and spread of the algae has been a source of debate.

The persistent algae bloom has become an issue across the political spectrum this election season, including in the U.S. Senate race, where political opponents and environmentalists have dubbed Gov. Rick Scott as “red tide Rick.”

[READ MORE: Florida water a key campaign issue]

Scientists believe the believe the nutrient-rich water and toxic blue green algae flowing out of the Caloosahatchee River have exacerbated the red tide bloom on the southwest Florida coast.

As the polluted waters from Lake Okeechobee flow out into the inlets and ocean on the east coast of the state, it can definitely have an impact on marine harmful algae, said McFarland.

The five-day forecast from the National Ocean Service shows potential respiratory irritation levels as moderate in Saint Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach and Broward counties and northern Miami Dade through Tuesday.

On Thursday, Scott announced $3 million in grants to the five affected east coast counties to help mitigate thee impact of the algae bloom. The state previously allocated more than $16 million to try to expand research and help minimize the impacts of toxic algae blooms including the red and the blue green

For information about the human health impact of red tide, call the Florida Department of Health at 850-245-4250 or visit https://floridadep.gov/AlgalBloom.