Same at the Eastern Lake access in Seagrove
Is There Red Tide in South Walton, Florida on 30A Beaches?
- Thread starter MRBS
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Grayton, WaterColor, Seagrove, WaterSound very light yesterday. A little more noticeable in Blue Mountain Beach. I was on walkovers so not on the beach to see if there were any dead fish. There are a lot of people on the beaches in town on Fall Break.
Is the Bay in trouble? We have owned property here in Walton County either on the Bay or close to the Bay for about 17 years. Until this past week I have hardly ever seen a dead fish other than a catfish that someone tossed back. Last weekend I saw literally thousands of dead fish over about 100 feet of shoreline! The strong winds created waves of rolling churning dead fish. I tried to find out if anyone is testing the water for red tide or some other substance causing the massive fish kill. We contacted two organizations and neither was aware of red tide in Choctawhatchee Bay. We started researching red tide and found relatively small and somewhat isolated studies relating to the subject. We were shocked that there was not more information from State and Federal agencies. I contacted FWC and they said they would send someone out to take water samples but did not seem that alarmed. Most information states that red tide has been around for a very long time and is considered a natural occurring marine process. We decided to see if it was isolated by visiting other shorelines around the bay and dead fish was everywhere. I understand the consequences of an economy that depends on tourism to overstate the growing concern of red tide but this is ridiculous. I suggest that some of our money go to more research in the Choctawhatchee Bay if we want to protect this valuable ecosystem. Yes, this is an alarming post! Deal with it...
Red Tide has been in the area for a while. There is no way to make it go away. Testing the water will do nothing. It is Not an alarming situation but a natural occurring one. There is plenty of information on line about Red Tide. It is always a good idea to be informed.
Red Tide has been around a long time. Agreed. In your expert opinion would you say that it is a natural occurrence in the Choctawhatchee Bay? I am all for keeping things on the down low to prevent overreaction but this is pretty bad. We picked up two tractor loads (front end loader bucket) along the shoreline of dead fish and hardly made a dent. The wave action on a natural shoreline will cover the dead fish with sand and the rest just sink to the bottom like oil and corexit (out of site out of mind). In our area we have low salinity because of the fresh water creeks and rivers and Karenia Brevis is not supposed to tolerate low salinity. Testing the water is important but just like you say it does nothing other than maybe predicting the next fish kill. FWC will test and let me know if it is red tide and that will be that. This may be natural but it is not normal at least in my 17 years of living and working next to the bay. The FWC website says if a fish is skinned and filleted it is okay to eat because the toxins accumulate in the guts. Should we be concerned? I think we should. Should we be alarmed. All I can say is that I hope the experts are expertly informed.
The weird thing about the bay fish kill was no respiratory irritation like we have been having at the beach with the red tide. Some of us are wondering if something else is going on. Low oxygen levels was one guess. It would be nice to know what the problem really is.
While cleaning up the dead fish I had no allergy/asthma like symptoms but my wife did even with a mask. Maybe we will soon find out by testing the water but I am not fully convinced it is Karenia Brevis because of our low salinity. Low Oxygen levels would cause major fish kills like this but what is behind low Oxygen levels? I know the military is testing sonic waves as they have stated that it could affect GPS. Something is going on and I feel like it ain't exactly mother nature doing it's thing.