Florida Fish and Wildlife Leaders Update on Red Tide

The Midweek Red Tide Update shows that along the east coast of Florida, the K. brevis alga was observed to be "high" on the coast of Space and Treasure. Compared to last week, concentrations have increased in parts of Brevard, Indian River and Martin counties, state officials said.

The red tide has had particularly serious repercussions in Indian River County, where beaches have been closed – they have been reopened since – and a contractor has been hired to clean the fish carcasses. In Brevard, volunteers and jailed inmates pierced the sand to clean up the rotting marine life. Warnings have also been issued for people with respiratory problems to pay attention to eye and throat irritation.

In Brevard, Satellite Beach test among the highest in Space Coast for the red tide earlier this month. The bloom of the red tide can last for months. The current proliferation began a year ago in southwestern Florida, where tons of dead fish were reported, raising concerns about the lingering environmental impact.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has committed an additional $ 1.3 million in grants in several counties on the Atlantic coast. Brevard receives close to $ 75,000, while Indian River County receives $ 522,000 and an additional $ 100,000 in St. Lucie County. In July, the state provided $ 12.4 million in funding to help communities cope with the red tide. The money was used to mobilize responses from water monitoring laboratories to test different technologies to alleviate the problem of the red tide.

Sutton also spoke of the state's response and noted that the red tide was a natural phenomenon that was recorded early in the state's history. "It's a common occurrence on the west coast of Florida," said Sutton.

He also stated that some research has shown that nutrients – probably from runoff – could have an impact on the red tide. "What we do not know is how (the red tide) moves," he said. "There is a lot of speculation."

Drew Bartlett, deputy secretary of the Florida Environmental Protection Department, was also present at the meeting and said that the issue of excessive runoff of nutrients from septic tanks will need to be addressed.

Governor Rick Scott – locked in a campaign in the Senate – released Wednesday a statement about the funds.

"The red tide has affected the coast of Florida, we have taken measures to combat the effects of this natural phenomenon. To date, more than $ 12 million has been donated to communities affected by the red tide and the additional funding we are seeking today will go directly to local governments fighting the effects of the red tide. "Said Scott.

"As we fight the red tide, nothing is more important than supporting local efforts to protect our environment and we will continue to provide all available resources to alleviate this problem and help our communities recover." . "