Red tide/blue algae important (Punta Gorda, Okeechobee: how much, organic, to live)

[Harbor Hopper]

Originally Posted by NotEnufGarage

Lake O Algae =/= Red Tide or haven’t you been following?

SMH... The Lake O releases and algae have a direct impact on the worsening Red Tide blooms in the Gulf. They ARE related. As is phosphorus mining up river and all of the runoff from Kissimmiee and the Peace River watershed draining south. Leaking septic systems near the water and lawn fertilizer also contribute to the problem. There's a lot of contributing factors, but one thing is for sure, within 1-2 weeks of Lake O releases beginning, we start having red tide issues and this current one is STAGGERING.

[Harbor Hopper]

Sea turtles, babies and adults, now washing up on the beach. Experts say the whale shark that washed up on Sanibel last week died from the massive red tide.

[NotEnufGarage]

Correlation =/= Causation

Warmer Gulf temps = more evaporation

More evaporation = more rain

More rain = more water in Lake O

More water in lake O = more releases

More releases = blue algae

Blue algae =/= red tide

Both could be the result of warmer water temps and be in no way related

[Pau Hana Daz]

Be careful sticking your head in the sand like this - Right now that stuff's toxic...

[Harbor Hopper]

Another dead dolphin on Manasota Key today... but this is "normal" according to one poster who has zero first-hand knowledge of what's happening down here.

[NotEnufGarage]

I know I don’t live on Lemon Bay (one of the qualifications for being an expert, apparently), but I never said red tide is normal. Is that how you deal with being called out on your inaccuracies?

Show me a PhD in oceanography and I’ll lend some credence to what you say, but taking scientific advice from a realtor? I think not.

[blb078]

Is this something that is more common in warmer months than cooler?

[JERSEY MAN]

[CENTER][/CENTER]



Blue-green algae growth forces state to issue another emergency order



weather
By Kimberly Miller - Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

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Mike Knepper visited Shepard Park along the South Fork of the St. Lucie River near downtown Stuart in June to record drone video of the algae collecting on the shores. (Allen Eyestone / The Palm Beach Post)
Posted: 6:23 p.m. Monday, July 09, 2018

Seven counties, including Palm Beach County, were named in a sweeping emergency order issued Monday that increases monitoring of blue-green algae and cuts red tape that could delay mitigation of its harmful spread.
It’s the second emergency order issued by Gov. Rick Scott in two weeks regarding the cyanobacteria, and follows an unusual 10 p.m. Sunday announcement by the Army Corps that put a lid on Lake Okeechobee discharges while engineers search for other ways to reduce lake water levels.






Included with Monday’s order are demands for the state Department of Health to increase community outreach, including adding signs warning of algae, and a mandate for Florida’s official tourism group to step up communication with local businesses.
Scott issued the order after touring areas on the Caloosahatchee River infected by the vibrant green goo. Counties covered by the order, which also include Martin, St. Lucie, Lee, Glades, Hendry and Okeechobee, already are seeing the algae spread or may be at risk.

Lake O releases may have to resume later this week

The Corps’ late Sunday message suspending lake discharges was marked “urgent” and came after all signs Friday pointed to the continued flow of lake water into the Caloosahatchee River and a resumption of flows into the St. Lucie Estuary, which had been paused for nine days.
With the lake at 14.44 feet above sea level, the pause in discharges is temporary. Jacksonville District Commander Col. Jason Kirk said the Corps “will likely have to resume releases later in the week to reduce the flood risk that a rising lake presents to people living and working around it.”
>>RELATED: One tropical system can push Lake O over the edge
Some residents are skeptical the respite will have much affect on the algae blooms, and called the decision to stall discharges politically motivated.

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Tom Nolan, maintenance worker at Riverland Mobile Home Park and Marina on the South Fork of the St. Lucie River, said in June that the algae has been going in and out of the marina with the tide near the Indian Street bridge in Stuart. (Allen Eyestone / The Palm Beach Post)
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Tom Nolan, maintenance worker at Riverland Mobile Home Park and Marina on the South Fork of the St. Lucie River, said ... read more

“This massive water quality issue is framing the campaign. It’s just so obvious,” said John Cassani, whose group Calusa Waterkeeper is a member of the national nonprofit Waterkeeper Alliance. “Perhaps Rick Scott’s legacy on environmental policy is creating some problems.”
Scott is hoping to take the U.S. Senate seat that has been held by Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson for 18 years. Scott has repeatedly criticized the federal government for dawdling and shortchanging Florida when it comes to Everglades restoration.

Many lawmakers weigh in on algae

John Capece, a regional director for the Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida, challenged Scott’s record on environmental protection after the Monday tour.
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“He slashed the Department of Environmental Protection’s budget, eliminated the DEP’s ability to enforce their protection mandates, drastically reduced key local planning requirements, and spent years vehemently fighting water quality standards,” Capece said in a statement.
But many lawmakers are weighing in on the algae issue. U.S. Rep. Brian Mast toted a jar of algae scooped from the St. Lucie River to the floor of the House last month. Mast said in a letter to the Corps on Monday that the safety of his constituents on the Treasure Coast has been “systemically ignored and deprioritized.”
On Sunday, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio sent a letter to President Donald Trump asking him to order the Corps to consider the harmful algae blooms when making decisions about releasing lake water.
>>PHOTOS: Toxic algae spreads along beaches in 2016
Nelson spent time last week in Stuart and Fort Myers discussing the algae concerns and spoke on the Senate floor Monday about his request that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provide “emergency assistance” to research the long-term health risks of blue-green algae.
Corps spokesman John Campbell said he doesn’t have details about the Sunday discussions that led to the late-night announcement, but there were “certainly a number of conversations here in Jacksonville, Atlanta and in Washington.”

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The S-80 discharge structure on the C-44 canal in Martin County shown in July 2016 when the Army Corp of Engineers sent water from the C-44 canal through the S-80 discharge structure to try and alleviate the algae problem in the St. Lucie Estuary. (File photo by Joseph Forzano / The Palm Beach Post)
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The S-80 discharge structure on the C-44 canal in Martin County shown in July 2016 when the Army Corp of Engineers ... read more

“Collectively, the decision was made to do a very thorough assessment and review of operations of Lake Okeechobee and the entire central and southern Florida system,” Campbell said. “It’s stuff we do fairly routinely, but we’re having additional eyes take a look to ensure we have identified every option we have.”
Releasing fresh lake water into the brackish estuaries reduces salinity levels, giving cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, a better environment to grow. Lake Okeechobee is also suffering its own algae bloom this summer, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration saying last week about 90 percent of the lake was showing concentrations of cyanobacteria.

A new storm could be problematic for Lake O

“If they let go of more water, we are just going to get clobbered with more green algae,” said Tom Nolin, the maintenance man at Riverland Marina in Stuart. “Who wants to go boating in a slime-covered river.”
The Corps prefers to keep the lake between 12.5 and 15.5 feet above sea level, but one tropical system can quickly push the lake to levels that can cause the Herbert Hoover **** to erode and leak.
Rainfall from September’s Hurricane Irma caused Lake Okeechobee to gain three feet in a month, pushing it to 17.16 feet in October, which was a 12-year high.
“We have to assume there is a storm out there on no one’s radar that could make the lake rise that much again,” Campbell said.
The Corps said Thursday that $514.2 million is earmarked to speed repairs of the ****. An overall $17.4 billion in funding for the Corps includes additional money for beach restoration and coastal flood control in Florida.
RELATED: Septic tanks contributing factor for Treasure Coast water woes
Increasing the dike’s structural integrity could allow it to hold more water and help reduce discharges, but higher water levels could also hurt the ecology of the lake.
Raymond Iglesias, general manager at Roland Martin Marina in Clewiston, said he’s heard few people talking about reducing or slowing the flows coming into the lake from the north through the Kissimmee basin.
He thinks stopping the discharges was a mistake.
“It’s easier to blame Lake Okeechobee than Mickey Mouse,” Iglesias said referring to the runoff that comes from agriculture and suburbs north of the lake. “If they store more water in the lake, they will kill the liquid heart of the Everglades. Then what?”

[NotEnufGarage]

Originally Posted by blb078

Is this something that is more common in warmer months than cooler?

There are two issues being discussed. Blue/green algae, tied to phosphorus from agriculture and cattle released from Lake O and septic systems, primarily along the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee river systems, and red tide, a natural phenomenon tied to wind, water temperature and salinity, which can occurr anywhere along the coast. Some members conflate the two.

Which are you referring to?

Both occur mostly in warmer months, but that doesn’t mean they share the same causes.

Blue/green algae is unsightly, fouls marinas and docks, and impacts some marine life.

Red tide is a micro-organism that is toxic to both mammal and marine life and can cause extensive die-offs, plus foul smells, respitory impacts and other adverse effects.

[Corrie22]

Originally Posted by NotEnufGarage

Red tide is a micro-organism .

Or more correctly it's a dinoflagellate....not algae at all...phytoplankton

Oddly enough, people that are complaining about runoff making it worse....increased nitrogen and phosphorus actually makes it a whole lot less toxic....When nitrogen was limited toxins increased 2.5 times...when phosphate was limiting toxins increased over 10 times

So the nutrients from runoff....nitrogen and phosphorus...are making it not as bad as it would be

'Increased Toxicity of Karenia brevis during Phosphate Limited Growth: Ecological and Evolutionary Implications'

"Intracellular PbTx concentrations (fg/µm3) increased by up to 2.5-fold during N-limited growth"
"Karenia brevis responds to P- and N-limitation by increasing all brevetoxin congeners"

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3595287/