This content was published on March 14, 2023 – 20:38
minutes
Miami, Mar 14 (EFE)
The sargassum mass is visible from space and could be one of the largest detected in history, according to local channel WKMG-TV.
If it reaches the coast of Florida, the massive bloom of marine algae could have harmful consequences for coral reefs, by depriving them of the necessary sunlight, in addition to releasing hydrogen sulfide when decomposing that affects the air and water and can cause problems respiratory to people.
The impacts of this toxic algae bloom have already been felt off the coast of Florida.
In fact, many young people from all over the United States who came to the beaches of Florida on this spring break, the so-called “spring break”, found themselves in the presence of the toxic red tide, especially in areas of the south of the West Coast.
The state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) warned of the presence of red tide along Florida’s Gulf Coast two weeks ago.
The FWC detected last week “high concentrations” of the “Karenia brevis” microorganism (causing red tide) mainly on the southwestern coast of the state, specifically in Pinellas, Sarasota, Charlotte, Monroe and Lee counties, and lower in that of Manatee and Collier.
High concentrations of this organism in the sea are often accompanied by the presence of dead fish.
Only on the beaches of Indian Rocks Beach, in Pinellas County, some 2,720 kilos of dead fish have been removed from its waters in the last eleven days, and another 3,000 kilos in Manatee County.
In Sarasota County, the Venice Police Department’s marine unit worked with investigators from the Mote Marine Laboratory to rescue a manatee that was endangered by red tide.
Agents and biologists helped the manatee keep its head above the water so it could breathe and then transported the mammal on a hammock-type stretcher inside a truck to SeaWorld Orlando for rehabilitation, channel 10 Tampa Bay reported.
Researchers at the University of South Florida (USF) Optical Oceanography Laboratory said that “the large amounts of algae already in the Caribbean Sea (and to the east) will continue to accumulate and migrate westward, creating stranding hazards in the way”.
The Florida Keys could start to see some amounts of sargassum this month.
The FWC forecasts call for “a variable movement of red tide from Pasco County south to Monroe County north,” in the extreme southwest of the state.
The microorganism that causes red tide has affected areas from Tampa to Naples this year, turning the waters red and killing marine life, he added.
Red tide has impacted the Florida coast repeatedly in recent years, and since it returned in 2023, concentrations of dead fish have washed up on multiple West Coast beaches.
Authorities have also warned about possible respiratory conditions caused by water and air contaminated by this microorganism which, when it multiplies in large numbers due to excess nutrients, causes a reddish-brown stain in the water.
The red tide, warned the FWC, can cause from skin irritations to skin rashes and burning and pain in the eyes to people who swim in waters contaminated by “Karenia brevis”. EFE
emi/ar/icn
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