#RED TIDE FLORIDA GOLIATH GROUPER FULL#

Times staff writers Helen Freund and Rose Wong contributed to this report.Įditor’s note: This report was updated July 20 with a statement from the Department of Environmental Protection.

“It’s part of our responsibility to do what we can to limit what ends up in the environment,” she said. Pet owners can pick up their dog’s waste, because if they don’t, that poop will get washed out through the drains, too. They should stop overwatering their yards if they’re on reclaimed water.

#RED TIDE FLORIDA GOLIATH GROUPER FULL#

Pinellas County Public Works Director Kelli Hammer Levy said people are understandably frustrated with the pollution from Piney Point - an environmental danger to Tampa Bay that the state never truly curbed.īut she recommended that they also focus on reducing their role in creating the pollution that ends up in Tampa Bay and the gulf, all of which stacks up.įor instance, she said, people can avoid letting grass clippings full of nutrients land in the water or they could buy fertilizers with fewer chemicals that ultimately run off into canals. On top of that, scientists have said, drought-conditions and a lack of freshwater here left the estuary with high salinity levels that are conducive to Karenia brevis.īeyond the present crisis, experts say, a good starting point is to work on own your little corner of the world. Persistent southerly winds likely blew a Red Tide bloom that began in Southwest Florida late last year north, eventually hitting Tampa Bay. In this case, nutrients - those already in the bay and the enormous amount added by Piney Point - are the fuel.Īs for the ignition? Scientists have theorized that several environmental factors may be at play. The flames then need dry material to keep burning. Think of a brush fire: Something has to give off a spark, like a match, to get it going.

That doesn’t mean the pollution couldn’t be exacerbating the bloom. ‘Just Sucked it In’ The moment a Goliath. What they mean is: The release is not why Karenia brevis turned up in the bay. Threats to the species include commercial and recreational fishing, harmful algal blooms (red tide), and habitat loss, says the NOAA website. You may have heard local leaders and researchers repeat over and over again that Piney Point did not cause this Red Tide. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation (FWC) staff recommendation to allow a limited harvest of the vulnerable and iconic Atlantic Goliath Grouper (Epinephelus itajara) (hereafter.

Red tide florida goliath grouper