St. John's River FOAM (Jacksonville, St. Augustine: landscaping, maintenance, live)

[BabyBoomers2]

Took our boat onto the river this morning (out of Goodby's Landing). Seen quite a bit of thin "foam/suds" in the middle of the river going towards the Fuller-Warren Bridge! Closer to the bridge and the thin foam/suds turned into chunks of foam/suds! While tied up at the Landing, could see these chunks of foam floating up the river with the current. Had a little lunch at the Landing, came back to our boat and found a large gob of foam around our Drive and along the entire back (stern) of the boat. Two other boats at the Landing had the same. It looked like someone had dumped used laundry water suds or carpet cleaning suds into the river! This foam/suds didn't bother the dolphin that were playing around in the vicinity of the Landing! Also notice many more crab traps than we'd ever seen before on the river!
Didn't see one dead fish though! Talked to a couple of fishermen, that were headed out of Goodby's Landing and they told us, despite the "dead fish" media news, they were still going fishing........but ONLY doing "catch & release".
Next time boat goes to Vilano Beach Ramp for a "first time" on the Intracoastal Waterway and perhaps a short jaunt onto the Atlantic off of Vilano Beach.

[Robyn55]

There was an article in the FTU today about the foam:

Foam on St. Johns churns up environmental interest | jacksonville.com

I wouldn't eat anything caught in the River these days. Robyn

[Northside904]

Why would anyone eat anything caught in the St.Johns River is beyond me. The river has long had pollution issues. The river is good for the fireworks show, taking a boat ride on but that's it.

[BabyBoomers2]

You've got that right! Heck, I'd even think twice about putting someone in a tube behind a boat or even riding a Wave Runner on the river. Just don't want to come in contact with that water like that!

Originally Posted by NorthsideJacksonville

Why would anyone eat anything caught in the St.Johns River is beyond me. The river has long had pollution issues. The river is good for the fireworks show, taking a boat ride on but that's it.

[fsu813]

JEA is slowly killing the river i think

[jsimms3]

Ask anyone who grew up in Jax on the river and they will all tell you that the river is like spring water compared to what it used to be. Also these same people used to ski in the river all the time and they turned out fine! I am not advocating pollution (I am actually quite a tree hugger), but the pollution in our river, while a problem, is a little overblown.

JEA is not much of a problem. Georgia Pacific down near Palatka WAS, but that issue has been mostly resolved. The biggest polluters of the river are low class people who should not have a boater's license who throw their trash in the river, and those who fertilize their yards (and many who fertilize their yards who live on the river who I know are big "environmentalists"). We are in fact our own worst enemy pollution wise.

[BabyBoomers2]

Well, what ever is going on.......SOMETHING is/has been killing the fish and this foam/suds is coming from some original place!
If this is a "yearly occurrence" with the dead fish, why does the media treat this "dead fish" report like it's a new occurrence???
When people on a boat or on the shore see dead fish floating along the shore and hunks of foam/suds floating next to a bank or down the river, those people are going to "think twice" about doing anything recreational on the water which means fishing, tubing, water skiing or using a Wave Runner. We didn't have a problem taking our boat out on the river, but it was very odd seeing all of this foam/suds and all of these crab traps!

[jtruog]

Loveboating, I have finally gotten the boat out on the water a handful of times (yesterday being the latest) all out of Goodby's. I've been up to the Landing several times and as far South as Black creek. There's some good eats and it's a nice ride but I've been curious about Vilano Beach/St. Augustine...let me know how it goes!

I did also notice that there weren't nearly as many dead fish yesterday as there had been but the foam they've been talking about was everywhere.

[jsimms3]

OK I just got the scoop, and I was partially wrong and partially right when I said the river was MUCH cleaner nowadays than in previous decades.

Back in the day until maybe the 70s, people's sewers/septics drained directly into the river. That is extremely gross and is not the case anymore obviously. However, except for one year in memory which sticks out when water hyacinths covered the whole river (that's a full sized flowering plant, not algae), there were not annual fish kills or algal blooms. I guess there was not a lot of fertilizing going on back then.

Now due to laws, people and corporations don't really dump sewage into the river unless you are swimming in the river and pee while you are swimming (I know I have done that many times heh), but there are many more people enjoying the river nowadays and many of those people have no problem littering. Also with more people comes more trash thrown in from land areas. Also, people that live on the river use fertilizer like their yard is a golf course, and of course it drains into the river. That is relatively new and produces various algaes, some seen, some unseen, which in turn produce various toxins.

These toxins and algae either use up all the oxygen in the water causing mass fish kills, or they are more subtle and the toxins work their way up the food chain. Larger red fish and gars and even birds which eat the littler fish eventually get a build up of these toxins in their system and die. Of course us humans can also end up eating these toxins.

So nowadays there is less sewage, but more trash and more fertilizer.

And actually, I think stormwater runoff may be dumped into the river (after it goes through simple cleaning process to screen for trash), but I am not 100% sure. If that is the case, it pulls in fertilizer from all over the city, not just riverfront residences (which I don't think the fertilizer from th riverfront alone is enough to cause these massive blooms).

Bottom line: quit over fertilizing and quit using weed killers, pull out weeds yourself and increase flower beds or just let the grass run its course, othewise you contribute to the problem. It is more maintenance, but if my pushing 60 mother can maintain 1.5 acres (they live on the river) without a landscaper or chemical help, anyone can do it. Now with no kids in house, she lets most of the yard that is not a bed run its course (no mowings, plant some wildflowers, and it actually looks good). The grass that is cut and kept up by no means is golf course quality (there are several types of grass growing and the occasional weed pops up when it's due for mowing), but the yard looks good still (she is one of the best gardeners in the city) and she does it au natural. Not to sing her praises, but the way she does her yard is the way everyone should, and if you cannot keep a large yard up yourself, that should be fine as long as there is a creative solution that does not involve over landscaping and over spraying.

[BabyBoomers2]

Ever been down there just for a visit, without the boat......we have. Nice Landing/Ramp and the water is so much clearer than the St. John's! We plan on going down next week, with the boat.

Originally Posted by jtruog

Loveboating, I have finally gotten the boat out on the water a handful of times (yesterday being the latest) all out of Goodby's. I've been up to the Landing several times and as far South as Black creek. There's some good eats and it's a nice ride but I've been curious about Vilano Beach/St. Augustine...let me know how it goes!

I did also notice that there weren't nearly as many dead fish yesterday as there had been but the foam they've been talking about was everywhere.