fort myers beach, smells, stuff on beach (Sanibel: rain, work)

[darrengj]

We recently relocated to Fort Myers and try to go to the beach a couple of times a month. When we go out and the tide is low it is great. It does not smell bad, the shallows are clear and clean, and the beach is clean.

But on the days that we do go to FMB and the tide is up, it is not so fun. We went today and the tide was up. It smelled and there were all kinds of things on the beach. Some look like clumps of mud, some things look like sea grass. There were even little creatures that looked like urchins, I think. Even sea snot.

Anyway, I have a few questions. What are the little things that look like urchins? What are the little clumps of mud? What are the little globs that we refer to as sea snot?

Thanks,
D

[121804]

I can't give you the exact answer, but I know that every time there are major rains/thunderstorms, as there has been the past few nights, the beaches always get a good amount of stuff on them the next day.

We were at Sanibel this morning, the water was murky & there was a ton of stuff in it & on shore. We were there about three weeks ago & the water was crystal clear & the tide was low; very enjoyable!!

I believe that FMB gets the runoff from some lake [sorry, I forgot which one] & that a lot of times the stuff you are seeing on FMB is from there. I have read that there is some sort of work going on to alleviate this issue.