VENICE – Red tide is back on the Suncoast and now we are seeing the first signs of dead fish on our beaches. Signs of the bloom are seen in Venice at Club Service Park. Dead fish are along the shore. The senior scientist and Director of Mote Marine Laboratory’s new Red Tide Institute says the red tide algae bloom is normal during this time of year.
“Well, what we’re seeing right now is our pretty much our normal red tide that we get every fall from September onward,” Cynthia Heil said. “and we’re in the middle of one right now. It’s nowhere near as severe as last years was. That was a horrendous, horrible year. This particular year is essentially on schedule.”
The red tide is currently on the beaches of Venice down south towards Marco Island, according to the FWC, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Heil says it’s hard to predict where the red tide could move.
“It’s basically at the northern limits of a bloom, that’s been slowly shifting north,” Heil said. “So, I can’t point any specific finger in Venice, at the moment, it just happens to be in the path of this particular bloom.”
While red tide is back, it doesn’t stop the beachgoer from Illinois from going to the beach.
“We’ve been coming down here for twenty years, so we’re used to having a little bit of red tide, but there’s no effects that I can notice other than a few dead fish,” Edward Olson said.
For more information, visit the Florida Fish and Wildlife map.
