Harmful Algal Blooms

Just don't swim in it. The seawater lapping ashore on Seagate Beach and Keewaydin Island in Collier County is brown, but it’s not an immediate cause for alarm. It’s a bloom of Trichodesmium, a special kind of tiny plant that provides nitrogen to parts of the ocean that don't have enough nutrients. After it decays, however, marine scientists think it is a precursor to red tide

The level of blue-green algae in the Caloosahatchee River near the Davis Boat Ramp was so high that the Florida Department of Health in Lee County issued a special public health alert. Last month, four health advisories for the same harmful algae bloom were issued in or near the headwaters of the Peace River. Both empty into the Charlotte Harbor Estuary.

many media accounts were telling of the thousands of tons of smelly, brown algae set to wash ashore on Southwest Florida’s beaches any day: Didn't happen.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis stopped in Collier County on Tuesday to announce $3.5 billion in future spending on a variety of environmental protections during his second term.

Dolphins have respiratory systems that can become congested or infected, which can cause them to cough hard enough to clear the airways and remove mucus, irritants, or other substances that may be blocking the airways or causing discomfort.

It was a classic case of blue-green algae in a canal in Waterway Estates: a thick coating of slimy green bacteria, and blue organic matter swirled together atop the water.A smell somewhere between rotten eggs and a backed-up sewer was wafting in the air.A small boat pulled up and a pair of nonchalant guys started tossing out something resembling fine beach sand — like two guys fertilizing their lawns without a hand-spreader.The tiny crystals landed on the matted algae – and nothing.The men spreading a hydrogen-peroxide-based formula created by BlueGreen Water Technologies, a Fort Lauderdale-based company, were out to prove they have invented a way to make noxious algae blooms just disappear.By extinguishing themselves, one-by-one. As in a mass suicide on a single-cell level.

We are all connected by the environment we share. The Earth is our home. This is the space where we share the environmental stories that caught our attention this week in Florida and beyond.

We are all connected by the environment we share. The Earth is our home. This is the space where we share the environmental stories that caught our attention this week in Florida and beyond.

A dog named Bella died after being exposed to toxic blue-green algae water on the C-51 canal in West Palm Beach.

The public is welcome to attend the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's next Blue-Green Algae Task Force meeting on Wednesday, June 23, 2021.