Massive Offshore Red Tide Bloom Kills Thousands of Fish

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have confirmed that a large, offshore red tide bloom in the northeast Gulf of Mexico has killed thousands of reef fish, including grouper, hogfish, and snapper. They report that the bloom has also killed many sea turtles and crabs, as well.

Using satellite imagery from the University of South Florida’s Marine Science program and Google earth, FWC has identified an 80-mile by 50-mile surface bloom of red tide algae offshore of Florida’s Dixie and Pasco counties.

FWC scientists have been collecting water samples and fish samples and have confirmed that Karenia brevis, the red tide organism, is responsible for the kill off. FWC notes, as well, that red tide has been documented in the Gulf of Mexico for hundreds of years and is a naturally occurring phenomenon.

On Friday, FWC published on their Facebook page several photographs taken from the kill region. We have included a few of these here.