Red tide, would it put you off?

[State27]

That’s a lot of dead fish

fox35orlando/news/gi...sive-fish-kill

[Moorlandman]

Originally Posted by State27

That’s a lot of dead fish

fox35orlando/news/gi...sive-fish-kill

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I got accused of scare mongering earlier on in this thread. It’s obvious that this is a major issue. Who wants to go in the sea with red tide and a load of dead fish😕

When we visited in summer 2018 the locals were in denial despite the dead fish and people choking near the beach. Money comes first for a lot of people sadly before nature

[shoei]

I don't think anyone meant to accuse you of scaremongering, but what we wanted to do was reassure people that 2018 was a rarity to have red tide impact to such an extreme. We also wanted to advise that red tide and other algae are present year around and may impact to some degree on any beach vacation in Florida.

Dead fish wash up on every beach in the world to some extent or another and the 2 very large grouper that have washed up on the beach have probably come from deeper water. Not that it is pleasant but if the red tide is not present on the beach it may not cause respiratory reaction. The public beaches are generally very well groomed so any dead fish will be removed quickly in normal times.

Red tide can be very isolated so the best place for information is myfwc/research/redtide/statewide/

At the end of the day though we all spend alot of money going on holiday and if you are really worried about red tide impacting then maybe a beach trip isn't for you.

I will say though that I have only been impacted twice and not heavily. I have been impacted by storms and hurricanes more.

[ChrisS]

Originally Posted by Moorlandman

I got accused of scare mongering earlier on in this thread. It’s obvious that this is a major issue. Who wants to go in the sea with red tide and a load of dead fish😕

When we visited in summer 2018 the locals were in denial despite the dead fish and people choking near the beach. Money comes first for a lot of people sadly before nature

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Yeap, I absolutely accused you of scare mongering and still do as, even now, you seem unable/unwilling to understand the concept of what occurred in 2018 when cyanobacteria laden fresh water clashed with red tide vs the current red tide situation.

[anji]

instagram/p/CRnDjd9B..._web_copy_link

Saw this posted yesterday by Earthfocus

[fredflintstone]

Originally Posted by ChrisS

Yeap, I absolutely accused you of scare mongering and still do as, even now, you seem unable/unwilling to understand the concept of what occurred in 2018 when cyanobacteria laden fresh water clashed with red tide vs the current red tide situation.

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But why is this year any different. Over 200 million gallons of toxic waste was dumped into Tampa Bay from the old Piney Point fertlilizer plant in March/April this year which many have blamed on this years Red tide outbreak. A containment pond was leaking and they were worried it would break and flood nearby homes. Many are blaming this for putting fuel on the fire. As normal law suits abound.
What gets me is that BP were fined billions for polluting the gulf and buinsesses got millions along the coast around Tampa ,although there was no oil impact, yet the Piney Point firm, or those dumping in 2018 get fined peanuts or nothing in comparison.

Forget 2018, they are reporting this is the worst for Tampa Bay since 1971. In the 2018 period (2017-2019) of Red tide Pinellas county (Clearwater/St Petes) collected 1800 tons of dead fish and waste. Thy picked up 1270 tons sofar this year, so would indicate it i worse than 2018 also.
Personally I found 2018 at Treasure Island not too bad, have had it a lot worse than that in the past. Again. maybe location, location, location as it varies from week to week along the coast. Pinelleas county have put written notices at beach entries, which is more unusual, this year.

Yes red tide is a fact of life, it is unpredictable, more often than not does not have an impact, as in 30 years its never pushed me away from the coast, but ,maybe covid restrictions have done me a favour this year.
Will I book to go to the coast for next year?- Without a doubt, I'll ignore the scaremongers as usual and have a great time.