Letters and Questions Red Tide Alert

This is a sample of the concern and questions that are coming in daily. There are really no concrete answers to any of these, just be careful and try to stay away from heavy exposures of red tide. I'm only going to print a few, they all have the same concerns and questions. I would like to print everyones experiences with red tide.. so please send them on

If the state doesn't think this is costing it millions of dollars in revenue each year then the states "leaders" need to get their priorities reexamined.

I live in Il, I spoke W/ my pregnant friend in
Clearwater. She said she hasn't been to the beach since May and told me about Red Tide. I surfed(the net) and found your site. Horific absolutely nothing in the news. Florida's dirty little secret.... I saw no solutions to rash and respitory problems. Might I offer some cheap but affective home remedies. Baking soda is great at neutralizing your skin, put in bath water, might help with the rash. I know baking soda and good ol' vinegar work on sun poisoning and sunburn(Florida native living in midwest) Raw garlic is a natural antibiotic, but it sounds like course of antibiotics is not very affective on the lung symptoms, how about benadryl. Lung problems, sinus problems caused by exposure, might try wearing a mask over mouth and nose when out of doors. Not very attractive, shades of Michael Jackson, but if it prevents respitory problems....also if locals are walking around in masks it might give the tourists a heads up that there is a problem! My coworker was heading to FL in a coupla weeks to get married on the beach, in the middle of hundreds of rotting fish, so romantic....gave her the heads
up.

HI, I APPRECIATE THIS WEB SITE.I LIVE SOUTH OF
CLEARWATER,FL ABOUT 10 MILES FROM THE BEACHES. SINCE JULY 4 TH I HAVE HAD
RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS AND GENERAL WEAKNESS.I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO EXERCISE
SINCE JULY 4 TH. I KNOW OF SEVERAL OTHER LOCAL PEOPLE WHO HAVE SIMILIER
HEALTH PROBLEMS.THE LOCAL PAPER RUNS ARTICLES ABOUT FISH KILLS AND
TURTLE DEATHS. THERE IS VERY LITTLE ABOUT PEOPLE PROBLEMS. IFEEL BETTER
WHEN THE WIND IS BLOWING FROM THE EAST , OVER THE LAND AND NOT THE
GULF.ALSO IT SEEMS LIKE RAIN CLEARS OUT THE AIR. I NEVER HAD A RASH, EVEN
THOUGH I WAS IN THE GULF WATER ONCE THIS YEAR.THE RED TIDE HAS BEEN PRESENT
SINCE JANUARY IN THIS AREA, IT GOT WORSE IN JULY. I HAVE USED CLARITIN WITH SOME RELIEF.ANTIBIOTICS HELPED MY EAR INFECTION BUT DID NOT TOUCH THE RED TIDE PROBLEMS.BEFORE GOING ON YOUR SITE I WAS NOT AWARE OF THE EXTEND OF RED TIDE AND THE HEALTH SUFFERING THAT IT HAS CAUSE. THANK
YOU FOR PROVIDING THIS INFORMATION, jim

Does nobody get this! Local TV media tells us that Red Tide is a natural occurrence....that is like saying cancer is a natural occurrence. We are polluting the oceans and the gulf by dumping wastes of all types including fecal on a continuous basis. There are run offs, spills and of course the ocean liners which all have added to this problem. Please lets face the truth...we are polluting our waters to the point that it cannot handle it anymore. The one and only cure is not in more chemicals but it lies in stopping the cause. A few of you will read this and think "what a shallow and unscientific approach", but is it? Put away your water analysis, comparative studies, & volumns of literature and get real. . . use logic, if you do this, then that will happen. Stop the Pollution.

July 25th Me and my family(husband and 13 year old daughter) went to Clearwater, FL for vacation this summer for a week. Our rental house was very close to some canals and went to Clearwater Beach for a day and saw dead fish floating around everywhere. We were so disgusted so we left. And after we left we didn't think very much about it so we didn't worry very much. Then about after a week after we got home my daughter started getting very sick(no fever) but had an extreme cough and
was tired and thirsty all the time! So i thought about it and decided she might have gotten sick from Red Tide and so i researched it on the internet and saw a list of symptoms and my daughter had all of them and it said that if it was the first time exposed to Red Tide it would take a few days to a week to start an show symptoms and thats the same in my case! So i have a few questions..... Is there a hotline i can call to get some more information on Red Tide? If my daughter might have gotten Red Tide poisioning would our family doctor be able to give her some kind of medication to cure this? If not, what should i do?
Thank You so much for your help on this!

I was at North Beach in San Clemente yesterday, and the water was very brown with many pieces of jelly fish washing up dead on the shore. What is going on? Does anyone know? The look of the
whole beach was very depressing.
Thank you for your time.
Serena

I have recently begun to wonder what will happen when the "RED TIDE"........ hits the infamous....."Dead Zone"......at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Or, has this already happened?
It seems as though this sludge in the Gulf of Mexico could feed the red tide or poison it! Does anyone know? I just hoped someone at this site would know.
Thanks and God bless you and yours!

Having become frustrated waiting for good surf, a friend, my brother and I paddled out at Oceanside's North Jetty last week (July 7). We surfed for 2 hours in a dark red tide. Big mistake. All of us have missed the last 3 days of work and I'm going into the doctor's office today hopefully to get some antibiotics. This bites!

July 11th 05My family & I just returned from Indian Rocks Beach, Fla. Before we left my daughter became sick with a bacterial infection & was running a 102 fever. I called Plumlee Realty, Century 21, to tell them I would be late because of my daughter being ill. Nothing was ever mentioned about a "Red Tide". There were no signs posted, and we did not learn of the conditions until we smelled and saw the hundreds of dead fish along the beach. We later watched the local news & it was minimized.

My family will be visiting the Clearwater Beach on
July 12 - July 15. What is the status of the red tide in that area. Will we be able to enjoy ourselves without concerns of getting sick from the redtide?

have been in Dana Point harbour the last 2
evenings (wed-thur) Red tide is BAD. The water does get blue once you leave the harbour mouth. Have not been to beach can't report on them.

My family was staying in Indian Shores outside of Clearwater on the Gulf Coast of Florida from June 14th-18th. While we were there very interesting and large fish, eels, blow fish, and other sea life washed up on the shore. We were told by a worker that was cleaning up the dead fish that there was a Red Tide in Sarasota which was causing this problem but that is was safe. Since the moment we arrived we were coughing, our eyes were tearing, we felt heaviness in our chests, and there was a strange smell in the air. We did some swimming and a lot of walking and laying on the beach. Since we got home we have done some internet searching on Red Tide.

It is now July 8th and while my husband, son & daughter feel better, I still have an awful cough and heaviness in my chest. I went to the doctor and have been on cough medication. I also started an antibiotic and allergy/asthma medication & will go for a chest xray if the symptons do not subside. We beleive that this is still from the Red Tide.

I realize that because many tourists feel the effects of Red Tide, it is difficult to track the respiratory consequences of exposure. Should this incident be reported to any agency? Should Florida have closed its beaches/waters?

Thanks for your help

June 8th

Dear reader,

I'm recovering (I hope) from the worst encounter of Red Tide this 27 yearlive aboard has ever seen. At one point I thought I was dying. I lost 18pound in two weeks.

I had to remove 250 to 300 pounds of dead rotting fisharound my boatbecause the Marina, the Harbor Patrol, the city would not. I photographed it for the media then I found out, the media did not care.

I asked every agency where are the posted warning signs to keep our kids outof the water. There are NONE.

I went to the Newspapers with my photos to put out a warning. They refused.

I threatened to call the out of state owners of the Marina then...and only then did the Marina call the city who sent two guys with swimming pool skimmer nets to remove massive amounts of death. (About 2 or 3 tons of two week rotting fish.)

I had called the Marina Manager for help. I left a message. 7 hours after removed the fish around my boat the Marina manager called to warn me tostop. I reminded him I was a good guy, sick and still doing something as no one has lifted a finger in two weeks. I reminded him the owners of the
Marina would like a long, long time resident helping out for no pay and the would not like a Marina with a manager who would not send his many employees to even bring one bucket to help me.

After writing I noticed something in the fly over photo of the Red Tide in your web site. I hope its not what it looks like, I've had enough horror.

Nantucket: I am interested to read about the effects of red tide on dogs and humans; our local shellfish beds have just been closed indefinitely due to an outbreak of red tide. as a volunteer member of the marine mammals stranding team we are always researching what the effects will be on our local marine life as we have many seals, whales, and porposies that come ashore. have you had any such mammals strand in your area that you think may be effected by the red tide?

Moved to HB last Nov. so this is my first
experience with Red Tide.   But I'd like to share my newbie thoughts.

I've been walking along the beach at least 3 days a week since I moved here 7 months ago.   About 3 weeks ago, I came across a poor sea lion in obvious distress on the beach.    It was sunset and a cool day, so there weren't many humans around. As I approached, the poor sea lion tried to go back in the water but was tossed around, so she came back out.
I talked to her for a while and she stayed out (in fact she started following me around), but she was obviously sick.   I'm sure she probably didn't make it.

Anyway, just before Memorial Day weekend the water looked awful. Being a beach resident newbie, I was convinced it was waste from the tankers.    To me, it looked and smelled like dirty, soapy mop water.   I broke out
in a rash on both my arms the next day.

Since then, I've seen 2 dead sea lions, a dead dolphin, 2 or 3 dead birds, and a couple of fish.    I've asked several people around here, and they all say it's only red tide, not harmful, like laying in the grass.

Sorry, but without even reading further on your website, I do not for a minute believe it's harmless.    People are told it's harmless because of what the truth would do to tourism, local business, and public utility authorities.    I'm also convinced it is not a naturally occurring phenomenon, but probably somehow related to humans and our tendency to believe we own the planet and can do anything we want without taking
responsibility.

I've said my thoughts.   Now I'll read your website.

Submittal Date - 6/5/2005
Submittal Time - 5:05:45 PM

hi there i live on my boat in king harbor,redondo beach.last year we had a bad red tide,but nothing like this!i have been sick since wed.,no energy,bronchitis type symtoms,and ageral "flu"like feeling.common sense tells me that sitting in a a stew of dead fish cannot be healthy.many of my neighbors feel the same way.

Thank you,

Mike Dorey

My g/f lives in an apartment a stone's throw from
the beach (Redondo). The second I parked my car and opened the door to get out I immediately noticed a "sewage" smell outside. Sewage/fishy. I looked at the ocean and was shocked to see the ocean now looked like root beer. Totally red/brown. I went up into the room and looked off the balcony and the color is unbelievable. This is how I found your website- I did a search on Yahoo.
Scary to know this is toxic. I saw people surfing and playing in it. Crazy. Do people not look? Or smell the air around them?

June 3rd.2005

I live on the beach in L.A. and I'm an avid
watermen, surfing, sailing, open ocean swimming, etc. We are used to red tides this time of year as the water warms up, but the last 2 years have produced some sickening (literally) tides. King Harbor, Redondo Beach,Ca looks like tomato soup, with a stong fetid smell. I've been out of the water for 2 weeks with a sinus infection casued by gatting water up my nose while surfing. I'm very concerned that the publis is not in the least bit informend about the implications of red tide on local marine life, and their own saftey. What can i do?
Cameron

There seems to be a strong red tide occurring in Santa Monica Bay, CA but I can't find any info on it. Do you know anything about this? What are the effects on sealions, pelicans, gulls, and ducks? They all seem to have left King Harbor Marina in Redondo Bch. I hope they aren't all dead! Any info you could provide would be appreciated.

Thanks.
CRA

Have any people experienced symptoms such as pins &
needles (tingling) in feet, legs hands and face?
I have had the cough for over 4 weeks and have now developed a tingly sensation also a floating feeling when I lie down. I am quite concerned, I went to Peace
River Hospital and gave them my symptoms but they basically said there was nothing more they could do but to go back if the symptoms worsen. (They gave me antibiotics for the bronchitis effect I was having).I am from the UK and we have bought a boat which we were keeping at the marina at Gasparilla. The few times we went out on it I reacted badly to
the red tide aerosol which left me coughing and wheezing. I feel that the symptoms I am experiencing now are somehow connected (maybe over exposure to the toxin) and that there are a few similarities to the descriptions of things happening to the dogs. We have been in Florida since mid January and
spent a lot of time at the marina and in the Venice/North Port/Sarasota area.I have flown back to the UK today and I have still got pins and needles in my feet/legs and the sensation in my face has spread to my tonge. I feel unsteady walking and strangely unable to sleep for more than a few hours.
(This is really unusual for me as I normally love sleep!) I can feel myself twitching which jolts me awake.I was contemplating trying the dehydrating/diuretic treatment described on the site but needed to know whether my symptoms were being experienced by other people or whether there is another medical cause for them. Now I am not really sure what to do.Keep in touch and let me know if anyone else has the same things and what they do about them.I'll check out the site to see if there are any other developments.
Thanks Pam

March 13 2005

We've owned property and just recently built a house on Palm Island (N. of Boca Grande). The red tide outbreak there has been ongoing for weeks on end. Last week the "foam" blowing across the beach looked like someone dumped billions of gallons of detergent into the Gulf. HUGE mounds of foam along with dead fish (of every imaginable species) washing up on the once beautiful beach. As I sat on my porch, not breathing very well, I noticed something huge floating towards us. In the pouring rain and blustering wind, I followed it for about 5 miles, to no avail. I wasn't sure if it was human, manatee or a huge fish, so I kept trying to catch up with it against the racing wind. Eventually I did see fins as it was being tossed in the surf, so ruled out human or manatee, but had to head home as the inside of my nose was raw and I could barely breathe. As I was walking, I passed many 40" or better groupers. I think this is outrageous and am sick of politics playing such a heavy role in ruining the beauty of Florida for a buck (or many bucks in their pockets from Sugar Cane farmers et al). I'm getting ready to write a letter to the editor of the News-Press, but they likely will not publish it as they are always politically correct-or will hash it up so badly my point won't be made.
Something needs to be done NOW. I'd say this is urgent. My husband and I have been forced to stay in our condo in Ft. Myers (our hurricane shelter:) because of this. Hopefully, one day soon, we'll be able to live on Palm Island as planned.

Submittal Date - 3/8/2005
Submittal Time - 9:54:15 AM

It was a number of years ago but I believe it was around the Sarasota beach area. It was very bad. I didn't know what it was but as soon as I was at the beach I started coughing. I had never experienced anything like it and had no idea what it was. It was so bad I had to leave after only 15 to 20 minutes. I asked an older couple what was wrong with the air and they said it's the red tide. I said "What's that?" They said "Don't you know it's the red tide." I said "What's the red tide?" and then they told me about it. They said they moved to FL and it affected them as well and they were thinking about moving away from there.

I left the area but my lungs were very irritated and for 3 entire days I was coughing from it.

I am thinking of moving somewhere around the Gulf coast of Fl or MS but I am very concerned about making an expensive move and then having to move again due to this health hazard. I definitely do not want to live somewhere that this could occur again. I checked maps of the entire US Gulf area and apparently it occurs everywhere around the Gulf coast line. So I wanted to see how far inland that I would have to move to make sure it wouldn't be a problem. When you say it can go inland very far, about how far in do mean?