Red Tide that bad??? (Sarasota, Everglades: felony, lawyer, universities)

[craigiri]

Terrible looking at the daily map update - LOTS of reds (1000X or more background) and lots of yellows - pretty much everywhere along the beaches and creeping further up Tampa Bay.

Complete red at Mote and at the places I launch my sailboat. Not happy.

At this point there is absolutely no use debating it - one thing ANYONE who looks at that map (and, in fact, the same maps for a LONG time) can agree on is that it is bad.

Beach, to call it an "acorn" is just plain wrong. It's a major debacle for those who are:
1. Interested in water sports or beach going
2. People who fish
3. People who sail, or kayak
4. People with respiratory issues

You should really qualify your statements with "I live well inland and so..." or something of the sort. Your world-view is not the subject here - the thread is about Red Tide in our coastal waters.

Dollars to donuts if I talked to even Mote or other local Marine folks they would not describe this as "this too will pass" or "this is nothing out the ordinary". In fact, their own claims prove that!

It's not good from any angle. Now the Fed. Gov. has released a report saying climate change is already affecting our country - well, it's not too hard to see that in Florida!

Of course my "reasoned" opinion is that if the Lake O situation was remedied and if the Everglade restoration was underway as planned we'd be much better off. Not to say it wouldn't happen, but year-round? Even looking back at the recent historical maps it's been around a large percentage of the year for quite a while. Not a "3 months in the summer and gone" thing.

As I've mentioned before...it was happening and we didn't notice it as much unless we tried to go to the beach on the wrong days or the wind was blowing onshore. But now we know about it and vastly more people will have those maps bookmarked.....

If air pollution is terrible and causing millions to die earlier (it does, actually), we somewhat accept it because we don't pay attention to the exact air samples everyday coming from the weather and other services. But just because we don't pay attention doesn't mean it isn't happening.

When I get down there I am going to do some informal polling with people I know and others I run into - all types, from year-rounders to retirees to beach-front home owners. I'll try to get the feel of how THEY consider it. I'd be amazed if any of them say it is a drop in the bucket and doesn't matter, but I'll report back exactly what they say.

Meanwhile, any real doubter has to fill in this blank - very simple.

_______ is the reason why it only started happening EVERY year in 1998.

[beach43ofus]

Red Tide is not man made, its just an Acorn..the sky is not falling. Red Tide preceeded civilized humans in Florida, and to deny that would be silly. It was noted in the 1600's by Spanish explorers. EVERY scientist say so. Even the media wont claim otherwise.

In this area, the environment isnt even i the top 9 issues. Nobody cares.

[gg]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

Red Tide is not man made, its just an Acorn..the sky is not falling. Red Tide preceeded civilized humans in Florida, and to deny that would be silly. It was noted in the 1600's by Spanish explorers. EVERY scientist say so. Even the media wont claim otherwise.

In this area, the environment isnt even i the top 9 issues. Nobody cares.

I certainly wouldn’t say nobody cares. Geez.

Man probably made it a bit worse.

[craigiri]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

Red Tide is not man made, its just an Acorn..the sky is not falling. Red Tide preceeded civilized humans in Florida, and to deny that would be silly. It was noted in the 1600's by Spanish explorers. EVERY scientist say so. Even the media wont claim otherwise.

In this area, the environment isn't even i the top 9 issues. Nobody cares.

You should tell that to your neighbors, visitors and many others who are saying things like the quotes at this link:
https://bit.ly/2QjAO9U

These are public quotes available on Facebook and Twitter and Forums and are from everyone from long term residents to visitors (and some who won't visit any more!)....

No acorn. You are making a molehill out of a mountain. Most people really do know the score - unless they are hiding their head in the sand or living far inland and not caring about much.....

Sample Quotes:

"I live near Siesta, & we haven’t been in the water since July!!"

"a boating trip from downtown FMBeach over to Pine Island & back (4hrs on the water). Within2 days breathing compromised & turned into gunky coughing. Inhalers & expectorant needed"

"When there is west wind on Longboat Key we can’t breath without choking and coughing and people are getting sick with infections going to the Hospital. "

[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by gg

I certainly wouldn’t say nobody cares. Geez.

Man probably made it a bit worse.

You're right...a few people care about the environment. I got carried away. They don't care enough to the point of being afraid, or fearful as some of the posters here are, or as the media would like us to be.

Most of what the media puts out there is meant to control people to act in a way that benefits the media, or the media's beliefs...Liberal beliefs. Most of the "news" being reported today isnt really raw news at all, its propoganda meant to influence your behavior. To be fair, Fox News does the same, but they are trying to influence you in a different direction...towards Republican beliefs.

A very high % of what you hear, & read about the environment is propaganda. Just look at the media source propogating it.

In this area, environmental issues do not rank as a top 9 issue according to a June 2018 study. A national survey had E issues ranked 4th.

The local study used this area's older demographic sample, while the national survey was much younger. This tells me, younger people are much more likely to be vulnerable to the media propoganda, & E-fear mongering, than older folks who've been around long enough to know better.

I think the best course of action is to be E conscience, and don't be overly wasteful. Try to moderate in all things you consume & dispose of.

Now, if you are E-scared, then; volunteer, donate money, vote for E-politicians, and reduce your carbon footprint by a sizeable margin. Actually doing something tangible/measureable might help you to deal with your fear. Simply writing about it will not make you feel any better (as some posters here perfectly illustrate).

[Yosh01]

If I were a Floridian, and cared about the state, I'd be concerned about this. I'm a vacationer from the north who spends nearly all my travel money in Florida. This year, I'm going to loose a $2000 deposit, and won't spend another $4000 for the balance of the condo, and not spend another $2,000 in incidentals just because of Florida's Red Tide problem.

Do I risk putting another $2,000 to hold the condo for 2020 and risk another Red Tide? Probably not. Maybe Florida is environmentally too risky for non-refundable deposits.

[beach43ofus]

Originally Posted by Yosh01

If I were a Floridian, and cared about the state, I'd be concerned about this. I'm a vacationer from the north who spends nearly all my travel money in Florida. This year, I'm going to loose a $2000 deposit, and won't spend another $4000 for the balance of the condo, and not spend another $2,000 in incidentals just because of Florida's Red Tide problem.

Do I risk putting another $2,000 to hold the condo for 2020 and risk another Red Tide? Probably not. Maybe Florida is environmentally too risky for non-refundable deposits.

There's no doubt that the naturally occurrig Red Tide has hurt and will continue to harm Florida's economy. We have many scientists trying to solve the 400+ year old Red Tide riddle. So far, no Silver bullett solution.
President Trump just signed a bill allocating another $1,300,000,000 towards solving the natural occurring toxic algae. Hopefully, that will help.

If I were you, I'd shift my vacation dollars to the East coast of Florida for the near term until the West Coast clears. The East coast had a brief bout of Red Tide too, but its gone now, and is more short-lived there due to ocean temp, depth, and currents.

[beach43ofus]

Wow, the storm front heading our way has strong winds coming from offshore, and today's report is the worse in weeks. Ugh.

[wondermint2]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

Wow, the storm front heading our way has strong winds coming from offshore, and today's report is the worse in weeks. Ugh.

Yep I just looked at today's reports from the Mote web site and it says both Siesta and Lido beach have "intense" respiratory irritation, moderate water color, and some dead fish. I don't recall seeing respiratory irritation listed as intense over the past month. Once this front passes through temperatures are going to cool down dramatically. It's supposed to get down to 45 degrees Tuesday night. However for now it appears the wind is negating any effects that the cooler weather could have on red tide. Historically the month of December has usually been when red tide blooms dissipate - but this stuff is hard to predict.

[srq57]

7 dead dolphins today in Naples. Yes, ..red tide is that bad.