State investigates whether red tide is responsible for fish kills, this time in Tampa

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TAMPA The smell of dead fish belied the appearance of the place, the perfect portrayal of a lazy summer day at Ballast Point Park.

Rain clouds weighed heavily on the well-maintained playground and water park as dozens of children raced in their swimsuits. A few fishermen cast their lines in the dark waters of the bay while families lounge at picnic tables eating ice cream.

But at the park’s waterfront, along the shore of Hillsborough Bay, hundreds of rotten fish and rusty red algae have gathered among the mangroves, rip-rap and the iconic railing of Bayshore Boulevard.

State investigators are testing whether the culprit is the red tide, as has been the case with fish kills along Pinellas County waterways, possibly fueled by emergency pumping of sewage from ‘a former fertilizer factory in Port Manatee.

Related: Could The Tampa Bays Red Tide Be Tied To The Piney Point Disaster?

Fishing guide Graham Taylor took a careful step to avoid breaking down the sheep’s head, pompano and small silver fish that washed up at the Ballast Point boat launch. When the time came to back up his truck and trailer in the water, flies swarmed the air and fish scales crashed into the grooves of his tires.

The fish began to rise to the surface of major Tampa Bay rivers in early June, Taylor said, so he and other local fishing guides had to follow the fish in search of clean waters.

For a while, they headed for the Alafia River, but algae blooms are appearing even in the waterways east of Hillsborough County, he said. Now they are settling for unlikely fishing spots in their pursuit of snapper, snook and rockfish in the urban expanses of the Hillsborough River.

The flow of the river is forcing a lot of that toxic algae out, but it’s been a battle to stay one step ahead, Taylor said. The red tide is just a seaweed, it is a plant, so if you enrich the berry with fertilizers … you are simply inviting the red tide into your home.

State scientists are still investigating whether there is a link between reports of a rapid spread of the red tide and the state’s decision in March and April to pump 215 million gallons of polluted sewage into Tampa Bay from a leaking tank at the former Piney Point fertilizer plant near Port Manatee. .

A spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reiterated Wednesday that the Piney Point spill did not cause the red tide in Tampa Bay, but it could have made the situation worse.

On Wednesday, the commission reported elevated concentrations of Karenia brevis in 98 water samples across the Tampa Bay area in 18 waters from Hillsborough, nine from Pinellas, eight from Manatee and one each from Pasco and Sarasota counties. The states red tide map showed a high concentration on Tuesday and Wednesday near MacDill Air Force Base, just west of Ballast Point Park.

Hillsborough County issued an advisory Wednesday afternoon regarding large red tide blooms in Tampa Bay warning that exposure to airborne particles of microscopic algae can irritate eyes, nose and throat and cause coughing and sneezing. The county will remove dead fish that wash up on county-owned beaches, but not on private property, according to the advisory.

In addition, the Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough this week issued an advisory warning of the red tide at Davis Islands and Picnic Island and erected warning signs along Ben T. Davis Beach. and Cypress Point.

Water conditions along most Pinellas County beaches, however, showed much lower red tide concentrations than last month, when the beaches were in the mid to high range, welcome news for local retailers before Independence Day weekend.

A constant easterly wind will likely sweep the red tide blooms away from the Florida coastline this week, researchers from the College of Marine Sciences at the University of South Florida reported on Wednesday.

Early next week, however, that weather pattern will change direction, which could send patches of red tide proliferation back to shore.

Living with the red tide

Here is the advice from the Florida Department of Health:

Do not touch or swim near dead fish. Wear shoes to avoid injuring yourself while stepping on fish carcasses. Keep pets away from water, spray, and dead fish affected by the red tide. Do not harvest or eat shellfish in affected areas where they are normally considered safe to consume. Where possible, stay away from bodies of water and beaches where red tide or fish killed by toxic algae are present.

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