It can make seafood unsafe for human consumption (and therefore harm fishermen’s businesses).It can affect and kill a variety of marine life: fish, eels, sea birds, dolphins, sea turtles, sea lions, and manatees.Red tide can also cause pets to become sick.Swimming in the water can cause further symptoms of “skin irritation, rashes and burning and sore eyes.” The above issues are just from breathing in the air near an affected waterway.If you have health issues, stay away from areas with red tide.” Reactions to red tide are worse for people with asthma, emphysema, bronchitis or any chronic lung disease. The Florida Health Department warns that red tide “can cause breathing problems, and can irritate your eyes, nose and throat.There are many more problems caused by red tide. (An August figure showed that Pinellas County, near Tampa, had 1800 tons of dead creatures and debris washed ashore because of red tide.) This summer, the Gulf coast of Florida has been experiencing severe red tide, with a mid-July figure of over 600 tons of sea creatures having been killed in the Tampa area alone due to the toxic algae bloom. (But many of the action items at the end of this post can be used by anyone, regardless of location!) Why is red tide a problem?Īsk anybody who has lived through a bad red tide, and we can tell you that the immediate effects are beaches littered with dead fish and other sea creatures, a stench that can emanate for miles from the beach, and potentially even health effects such as respiratory issues and/or cold-like or allergy symptoms that can last for days after exposure to red tide. Red tide has occurred in many places throughout the world however, my personal experience is with Florida, so some of this guide will be Florida-centric. The name red tide is due to the fact that these algae can change the color of the water, although this doesn’t always result in a red color. Although red tide is the common term for this coastal phenomenon, the preferred scientific term is “harmful algal bloom.” So although algae can be part of a healthy ecosystem, red tide occurs when certain types of algae grow out of control.

Loss of income red tide graph 2005