Red tide, would it put you off?

[ChrisS]

Originally Posted by DonnaD

I have read that Hurricane Elsa did bring a load of dead fish ashore.

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They may have died due to RT or Elsa [not Isla as I previously said]. I remember in 2018 how they initially hoyed copious dead fish back in the water, until they began washing up again and Lee County finally accepted the situation was far, far worse than first realised.

[State27]

Here’s another

baynews9/fl/tampa/ne...q_gkN0vtUcuwj8

[ChrisS]

Originally Posted by State27

Here’s another

baynews9/fl/tampa/ne...q_gkN0vtUcuwj8

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Chuff! Lee County is low to medium, at the moment, but as time and tide wait for no man that may change, winds dependant. See HERE

S27, seen a substantial RT increase in the 11 years we've been on Bokeelia close to the water - RT 'season' used to be circa Nov to Feb but now it's 12 months of the year as it basically sits out in the Gulf waiting to nip on in and cause mayhem. Fl waters have deteriorated significantly.

Afore going out in the boat we'd check winds, now the first check is RT location coupled with the winds. It can be so localised, one occasion we tied up at Fosters Bay, which is the East side of Upper Captiva, and walked circa 200 yards West to the beach. Almost immediately hubs, who has a lung issue, began to cough and had to return to the boat.

[Moorlandman]

Originally Posted by State27

Here’s another

baynews9/fl/tampa/ne...q_gkN0vtUcuwj8

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Looks awful again. Not as bad as 2018 though at the moment

[Floridafan]

We were in Naples and then St Pete’s in late August one time and we flew into Miami over a massive sea of red. We had no idea about red tide. Luckily we didn’t get any breathing problems but friends of ours were there a week before and they didn’t leave their hotel. They had breathing issues and said that they would never go to the beach again based on this experience. We had an issue with horseshoe crabs in St Pete’s - there were literally dozens of dead ones on the beach which was not pleasant plus we had to do the stingray shuffle when we went into the sea - so we were all on edge a bit the entire time. Didn’t spoil our holiday though!

[ChrisS]

Originally Posted by Moorlandman

Looks awful again. Not as bad as 2018 though at the moment

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As previously mentioned, what's currently being encountered is standard Fl red tide. Whilst Floridians would rather not see RT at all, it's nowhere near the serious eco-damaging Lake O freshwater cyanobacteria clashing with salt water RT that you unfortunately experienced in 2018. Hopefully it remains 'as is' but depends on rainfall levels and inevitible Lake O discharges.

I find the use of 'fresh water' when referring to the utter run-off filth/bacteria swirling in Lake O water a huge misnomer.

[ChrisS]

Originally Posted by Floridafan

We were in Naples and then St Pete’s in late August one time and we flew into Miami over a massive sea of red. We had no idea about red tide. Luckily we didn’t get any breathing problems but friends of ours were there a week before and they didn’t leave their hotel. They had breathing issues and said that they would never go to the beach again based on this experience. We had an issue with horseshoe crabs in St Pete’s - there were literally dozens of dead ones on the beach which was not pleasant plus we had to do the stingray shuffle when we went into the sea - so we were all on edge a bit the entire time. Didn’t spoil our holiday though!

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Hi FF, oh yes, the stingray shuffle Afore covid forced us home early last April, on a blazing hot day, I went plodging in circa 3 foot of water off Bokeelia Pier with cossie and crocs on - a young shark swam past me and startled a stingray in the sand, saved me another shuffle. I hung around but neither shark nor stingray returned.

In 11 years of staying by Bokeelia water we've never encountered breathing issues, hubs had a minor issue on Upper Captiva but we moved away immediately. 2003 we were in a Manasota Key private beach home when RT was in and that caused me cold like symptoms - but like you it didn't spoil our stay. We're not beach goers per se, we prefer Bokeelia's heated, salt water pool.

Red tide is a colloquial term used to refer to one of a variety of natural phenomena known as harmful algal blooms. The term specifically refers to blooms of a species of dinoflagellate. It is being phased out by some researchers because: Red tides are not necessarily red and many have no discoloration at all.

[Bella Girl]

We were in AMI in July 2018. We found out about the issue when we arrived. We had a lovely time because it is a beautiful place and our accommodation was lovely but it did curtail what we could do. We couldn’t do any water-sports or spend any time on the beach. We tried to go to Holmes beach but had to leave immediately because the smell was making us cough and none of us have any underlying health conditions. It was sad to see all the dead fish and we spoke to several people who vacation there every year who said that the water is usually beautiful colours but that year it was cloudy and brown.
Despite all this, I would love to go to AMI again and I don’t think red tide would put us off going.

[EssexSue]

Originally Posted by Bella Girl

We were in AMI in July 2018. We found out about the issue when we arrived. We had a lovely time because it is a beautiful place and our accommodation was lovely but it did curtail what we could do. We couldn’t do any water-sports or spend any time on the beach. We tried to go to Holmes beach but had to leave immediately because the smell was making us cough and none of us have any underlying health conditions. It was sad to see all the dead fish and we spoke to several people who vacation there every year who said that the water is usually beautiful colours but that year it was cloudy and brown.
Despite all this, I would love to go to AMI again and I don’t think red tide would put us off going.

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Oh where did you say? We always plan to go to AMI and we never end up going for various reasons.

[Bella Girl]

We stayed in an Airbnb on Tarpon Street which is at the north end of the island.
It was a 2 minute walk from the beach and a 5 minute walk to cafes and shops.

There was a canal at the end of the back garden and we saw manatee swimming around one evening.

The sunrise and sunsets are amazing.

The whole island has an old world feel and there are lots of beautiful places to rent.

I am feeling bereft that we can’t go this year just thinking about it!