Researchers are studying the dead dolphins. Photo: Mote Marine Lab
Florida is currently in the midst of the worst red tide in recent memory. Over 100 tons of dead animals have washed up on the deserted beaches in the last few months, including 12 dolphins in the span of just one week. The foul stench of rotting fish fills the air, and there doesn’t seem to be all that much being done. The dolphins were found in Sarasota County, where a dozen dead dolphins is about average for an entire year.
The twelfth dead dolphin was found on Siesta Key on Sunday. Speck, who was very well-known to researchers, was a 12-year-old male who had been spotted over 300 times. “It was devastating,” said Randall Wells, director of the Chicago Zoological Society’s Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, to Phys.org. “Speck is somebody we have known from the time he was born. He was named after my dad.”
Although the cause of Speck’s death is unconfirmed, all signs point to the red tide. Red tides to happen every year in the Gulf of Mexico—just not this badly. It’s a single-celled organism called Karenia brevis that can release a deadly neurotoxin. According to ecologists, “the organism acts like a forest fire, clearing out weeds and allowing the landscape to start anew.” When a red tide gets as large as the event in Florida, however, it is deadly.
While there are many reasons for a huge red tide, it seems that the size of this one is directly linked to the agricultural industry. In similar fashion to ocean dead zones, agricultural runoff pours huge amounts of nitrogen and nutrients into the sea, which then meet red tide algae that have been carried to shore by currents and wind. When they run into the fertilizers, they flourish.
“The bloom, caused by the microscopic algae Karenia brevis, turns coastal waters reddish-brown when conditions support rapid cell division,” explained Dr. Randy Wells, the Director of the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program. “When the cells break, they release powerful neurotoxins called brevetoxins, which kill fish, manatees, seabirds, sea turtles, and dolphins. Recent red tide levels in Sarasota Bay, measured by Mote Marine Laboratory and counted as Karenia brevis cells per liter of seawater, are up to 900 times the level at which fish begin to die.”
The current red tide began in October of 2017, but has become far worse in the last few months. The last major outbreak happened in 2005, and is only thought to have killed two local dolphins. Fish populations, however, were ruined, which led to hungry dolphins looking elsewhere for food, including the bait on the end of a fishing line—which, coincidentally, his how Speck’s mother and grandmother both died.
Governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency due to Florida red tide in seven counties, including Charlotte, Collier, Lee, Manatee, Monroe, Pinellas and Sarasota counties. That means that funding can be shifted around to help fix the issue—but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to work. Short of a cold snap, the toxic bloom will continue. Residents in the area are pushing for officials to make some long-term fixes, like inland reservoirs that where pollutants can be separated and enacting laws that force agricultural businesses to use less fertilizer.
In the meantime, however, Floridians are stuck with a huge mess on their doorstep. “Literally haven’t touched salt water in over a month,” wrote one Reddit user. “Some of these deceased dolphins were over 50 years old. So this isn’t obviously something that happens every year. One was tagged and tracked for almost 20 years and never left the area around SW Florida. Not dolphins stranding themselves, not fishing tackle or boat propellers, literally TOXIC Water. If someone gets in the water, they get extremely ill and have to go to the hospital. What kind of fuckery is this!?!?!? Imagine your entire coast of surf breaks being so noxious that you can’t even get in for a swim. This isn’t a lake, it’s the God damn Gulf of Mexico, and it’s more toxic than the BP oil spill.”
