Question about Red Tide....

I'm interested in this too...we're heading down on the 31st...a heads up would be good

I was on the beach for an hour today with strong onshore winds and not a whiff.

I've never heard of it in the cooler months.

Here ya go. No worries.

It's long gone! Have been breathing this awesome BEACH air now for several days and it is GOOD! :clap_1:

You can always check here:

http://www.floridamarine.org/

Florida is divided into regions and each county reports. Walton always has current reports, but Okaloosa seems to try to hide if there is any red tide.

It has recently been noted that cold weather does not deter red tide.

Late afternoon Christmas Eve, when the humid air was blowing in off the water, it did seem to smell a little like red tide, but I couldn't see any and it didn't seem to irritate.

Late afternoon Christmas Eve, when the humid air was blowing in off the water, it did seem to smell a little like red tide, but I couldn't see any and it didn't seem to irritate.

that was christmas dinner - sorry (buuuuurp - phew!)


actually - shellfish harvesting in Choctawhatchee Bay Central and Eastern has been closed since 10/14/05 due to red tide, but apparently not enough concentration to be noticeable unless you root yourself to a piling and suck water all day

the fish and wildlife resource pages are inadequate...they only investigate if its been reported by "several" complaints and typically takes a couple of weeks to get the water tested and the results posted...that info comes straight from them...the best testers in my opinion are your nose and your eyes unfortunately...Red

the fish and wildlife resource pages are inadequate...they only investigate if its been reported by "several" complaints and typically takes a couple of weeks to get the water tested and the results posted...that info comes straight from them...the best testers in my opinion are your nose and your eyes unfortunately...Red

but there havent been complaints (nobody there since its winter?), so I'd be suprised if it's a major outbreak

the fish and wildlife resource pages are inadequate...they only investigate if its been reported by "several" complaints and typically takes a couple of weeks to get the water tested and the results posted...that info comes straight from them...the best testers in my opinion are your nose and your eyes unfortunately...Red

The page I linked to says a collection was taken 12/19 at Hewitt Bayou in Walton County, wherever that is. That may not be incredibly current, but I would at least hope it is truthful. :idontno:

to use my nose and eyes method...i walked gulview heights and saw dead fish when the wind blew from the sw got that "smell"...it may not be concentrated, but its still hangin around...Red

Something to ponder:

The Red Tide smell is an awful lot like the stink that occasionally comes from Arizona Chemical. I smelled that smell--just a whiff--when I drove into Panama City on Tuesday.

Something to ponder:

The Red Tide smell is an awful lot like the stink that occasionally comes from Arizona Chemical. I smelled that smell--just a whiff--when I drove into Panama City on Tuesday.

and that is a clue, and you are looking in the right place, just a short distance from there actually, are the leach pits for st joe paper company which notoriously flood during heavy rain (let me guess - it rained a lot lately)and deliver their iron rich contents into the streams and thus into the area - poor cedar key, they've had red tide almost all year now - ahhhh, the price we pay for paper, especially the white bleached 'notebook' paper every kid in america is required to buy and take to school. look around your area after it rains for the tell-tale signs of brown stained sand where iron water has gotten into the ocean (the water may be brown from tannin, but it dosen't turn the sand brown - look for the brown stained sand, almost red-black where runoff occurs and there's your culprit - get rid of the nutrients and iron and get rid of the bloom).

what about the dead fish?...