Red Tide

Swath of red tide forms along Southwest Florida coast from Tampa Bay to Key West

Tom Bayles

A swath of red tide stretching for more than 200 miles has formed from Tampa Bay to Key West and the bloom started near Tampa Bay shortly after Hurricane Milton in October.

The Big Indian Rocks Fishing Pier, shown here on an undated postcard years before Hurricane Elana blew it down in 1985, was the 'summer home' of Tom Bayles, who is now WGCU's senior environmental reporter, but then was just another 15-year-old "pier rat" and part of a group of friends who fished for tarpon all summer long with no cares about red tide or blue-green algae. The harmful algae blooms, which are happening at the same time right now, have become such a fixture in the waters off of Southwest Florida's beaches in the decades since that now red tide and blue-green algae are rarely not on Bayles' mind

Environment

Water Quality Report: 'Tarpon Fever, No Harmful Algae Blooms, And Little Me - The Red Tide Tales'

Tom Bayles

Fishing for tarpon on the Big Indian Rocks Pier as a teenager, WGCU senior environmental reporter Tom Bayles says he cannot remember ever smelling a red tide or seeing blue-green algae. Now, they are both blooming at the same time where he lives

Lake Avalon, the popular freshwater sports lake in Collier County, has been closed since mid-November, when health officials discovered a strain of blue-green algae lurking in the water that can be very harmful to people. The cyanobacteria really shouldn't be present in such relative abundance in January, as blue-green algae thrives in waters heated by the warmest sun of the year during the summer and fall.

Environment

Water Quality Report: Red tide and blue-green algae at the same time; what happens if they touch?

Tom Bayles

A type of harmful blue-green algae is so great in Lake Avalon that it remains closed to water sports enthusiasts for the third month. Meanwhile, red tides 15 miles wide are blooming in the Gulf of Mexico. In Southwest Florida, blue-green algae like the summer and fall, while red tide's time is the cooler winter and spring — but both harmful algae have taken hold in places throughout the region.

A red tide alert has been issued near Gasparilla Island State Park Beach.

Environment

DOH-Lee issues red tide alert for Gasparilla Island State Park Beach

WGCU Staff

The Florida Department of Health in Lee County has issued a health alert for the presence of red tide near Gasparilla Island State Park Beach. This is in response to a water sample taken on December 30.

Environment

Red tide caution set for Vanderbilt Beach, lifted at Bowman's Beach

WGCU Staff

The Florida Department of Health in Collier County advises caution due to the presence of red tide near Vanderbilt Beach found in water samples taken this week.Meanwhile, a similar caution has been lifted at Bowman's Beach in Lee County.

Both red tide maps, current as of Dec. 12, 2024, show red tide about ten miles offshore Fort Myers, which is killing offshore anglers' chances to fish with live bait when they pass through the higher concentration of the red tide organism and the water gets in the live well

Environment

Water Quality Report: ‘The Mystery of the Dead Live Bait - The Red Tide Tales'

Tom Bayles

Red tide samples are coming up positive throughout Southwest Florida, but it's offshore where it's making an impact when anglers arrive to find out the organism got into the live wells and killed their bait.

This is what is what looks like when billions of gallons of water are being released daily from Lake Okeechobee, as it was earlier this year from the spillway into the St. Lucie River on the east side of the lake. Similar amounts of water will be released down the Caloosahatchee River during the three next three months since the Army Corps of Engineers has decided to drain four feet from the lake to minimize harm being done to plants that help keep the lake cleaner than it otherwise would be and continue to provide world-class fishing

Environment

Water Quality Report: Army Corps to lower Lake Okeechobee by 4 feet; toxic algae threat

Tom Bayles

Despite strong indications that billions of gallons of water would not gush down the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers from months on end when the new management plan for the big lake was finalized earlier this year that's exactly what is poised to occur

Just weeks after hurricanes Helene and Milton sent massive amounts of storm surge inland throughout Southwest Florida, the organism that causes red tide is being found in medium and high concentrations in the coastal waters off Lee and Charlotte counties and in lower but significant numbers off Sarasota, Manatee, and Pinellas counties.

Environment

Environmental conditions ripe for red tides forming off Southwest Florida shores

Tom Bayles

Hurricanes Milton and Helene contributing to red tide formation like after Hurricane Ian in 2022

Environment

Water Quality Report: The remaining hurricane season and why I hope I'm wrong

Tom Bayles

WGCU's Tom Bayles predicts hurricane season will heat up and, if so, he believes a Category 2 or 3 hurricane may be in Southwest Florida's near future. He hopes he's wrong.

Here we go again. Like Hurricane Idalia last year, the tropical system named Debby on Saturday is sure to rile up the ocean and turn the sky menacing colors during its brush by of Southwest Florida on its way to landfall in the Big Bend. But this time, even without a direct hit, the effect of the storm on the beach of Southwest Florida could be more like the months after Hurricane Ian

Environment

Water Quality Report: Hurricanes, polluted waters, red tides. Sound familiar?

Tom Bayles

A lot surrounding Hurricane Debby's arrival brings back memories of Hurricanes Ian and Idalia and the water quality problems they caused. Will it happen again?