Red Tide Reports
Watching the crisis unfold, again
6/30/2023 - As Florida's rainy season starts, we see another crisis evolving as blue-green algae get dumped into the Caloosahatchee. There is a direct correlation. So much has been invested, but the core issues remain: Lake Okeechobee is a toxic stew, and its preservation on behalf of industrial agriculture represents an epic environmental hazard.
Southwest Florida in particular, enjoys a reputation as an outdoor paradise. Red tide has put that reputation in crisis. Red tide's complexity and the delicate nature of our ecosystem make this area a perfect proxy for water quality and climate change issues. We don't understand all the causes and consequences, but we know enough to see our paradise and the suffering of its creatures and want to make it stop.
Aquatic Consequences
11/22/19 - Highest level of Sea Turtle Mortality Ever in Collier County - Because their food source concentrates Red Tide Toxins
Human Consequences
Algae, Nutrients a "Toxic Vice"
"It can be nasty, dangerous stuff, Cox says. During the 2018 algae crisis, “We received calls from concerned citizens and some post-mortem tissue from their animals who’d fallen in,” he said. “In the worst case, high levels of microcystin can cause death of a dog by basically dissolving its liver in as short as about 30 minutes.” "