Vero Beach red tide is most toxic on East Coast this year| Red tide map link | Videos

UPDATED STORY:Vero Beach red tide closes city, Indian River County beaches| Florida red tide map link

Vero Beach beaches have the highest levels of toxic red tide reported on Florida's East Coast so far this year, according to a Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute scientist.

Turtle Trail Beach had a record-breaking 9 million cells per liter Wednesday morning, scientist Malcolm McFarland said. The state, which has not confirmed his findings, shows 1 million cells per liter at Sebastian Inlet State Park being the highest level on the East Coast since the bloom hit South Florida Sept. 29.

South Beach Park also contained about 1 million, McFarland said Tuesday. 

WHY:Is Vero Beach red tide worse than other Florida beaches on the East Coast?

More: Where's the red tide today? | Map of east, west and Panhandle coasts

Indian River County announced Tuesday night that all city and county beaches will be closed until further notice, then said Wednesday Round Island would remain open. The state also closed Sebastian Inlet State Park.

Lifeguards, some of them wearing surgical masks to keep from breathing toxins, are also warning beachgoers about the possible hazards of swimming in and breathing in red tide, said Vero Beach City Manager James R. O'Connor.

Indian River County has warned people, especially those with respiratory problems, to stay away from the beaches if possible for the next two to 10 days.

Why were beaches still open?

The beaches remained open Tuesday afternoon because the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission hadn't officially confirmed it's red tide, O'Connor said.

Test results were expected by late Tuesday or early Wednesday came back Tuesday evening from water samples taken late Monday afternoon and driven to the FWC lab in St. Petersburg. 

"Getting results takes about 24 hours," O'Connor said Tuesday. 

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

The FWC plans to get more water samples from Indian River and Brevard counties, spokeswoman Kelly Richmond said Monday afternoon.

More: Possible red tide creeps up to Brevard County

"Without question, it's red tide," said Grant Gilmore, a Vero Beach scientist who's been studying Treasure Coast sea life for more than 40 years. "I know the smell. I grew up in Sarasota, so I've been around red tide my whole life. And Monday, it hit me like a ton of bricks."

More red tide heading this way

More red tide has appeared around Key West and the lower Florida Keys, according to data the state released Monday.

"That very well could be another wave of the bloom getting around the tip of Florida and coming toward us," said McFarland, who's been tracking the red tide's movement up the Treasure Coast with his own sampling and state data.

More:Red tide creeps up to Melbourne beaches

McFarland said he was surprised the red tide made it to Indian River County beaches, but he wasn't surprised by it's high toxicity level.

"I thought the south and westerly winds we had over the weekend would have blown it away from shore," he said. "But it's apparently found favorable conditions, including nutrients from rainfall runoff to feed on, to make it intensify."

The bloom, which he compared to "a cloud in the ocean," also could have been concentrated by winds and currents.

Bulldozer removing dead fish

Vero Beach staffers and lifeguards began picking up dead fish along the city's beaches in large blue bins Tuesday. There were so many carcasses, they brought in a bulldozer to help with removal.

The high tide line was covered with bloated bodies big and small — parrotfish, flounder, snapper, angelfish, cowfish — and more continued to tumble ashore as the masked workers walked south from Jaycee Park piling them up in the sand.

“This is a hundred times the fish as there was yesterday," said Vero Beach Ocean Rescue Lt. Vincent Valentino. "There was a couple dozen, and today there’s hundreds, thousands.”

Valentino, who's been guarding city beaches for a decade, said he’s never seen it like this. The stench was overwhelming and red tide toxins in the air made breathing difficult.

“People were coughing, getting that tingling sensation in your throat, redness in the eyes, runny noses,” Valentino said.

A few people came to the boardwalk to see things for themselves Tuesday morning, but none ventured onto the sand. “People are staying away,” he said.

Dead fish cleanup continues

The crews were expected to continue working their way to South Beach Park into the late afternoon, where lifeguards said the dead fish were even more abundant.

Gilmore said he saw 100 to 150 dead fish within a 1,000-foot walk Monday evening at Jaycee Park in Vero Beach. He identified at least 15 species.

"There probably were more species and definitely more fish coming ashore," Gilmore said. "I could see lots of white bellies in the water."

Some of the fish had been dead for a day or more, Gilmore said, "but some were fresh; they're eyes hadn't glazed over yet. That tells me the kill is still in place; fish are going to keep dying."

Red tide bloom began in 2017

Red tide in the Gulf of Mexico has been menacing Florida's West Coast since last October.

The bloom, fed by blue-green algae coming into the Caloosahatchee River from Lake Okeechobee discharges, peeked over the summer. Millions of pounds of fish, hundreds of sea turtles, dozens of manatees and dolphins and even a whale shark washed onto beaches; and researchers reported more dead animals piling up on the sea floor.

More:Red tide causes dead zone in Gulf of Mexico 

Red tide began moving up Florida's East Coast and has been reported on the Treasure Coast since late September, when lifeguards at Martin County's Bathtub Beach reported a then-unknown irritant in the air was making them cough.

Low levels of red tide were found at the Fort Pierce Inlet for the first time Wednesday, according to data the FWC posted Sunday. Conditions are constantly changing.

Staff reporters Colleen Wixon and Mary Helen Moore contributed to this article.