ESTERO, Fla. — As Floridians recover from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Red Tide is starting to rear its ugly head. Blooms have already been spotted mostly around the Tampa Bay area since the beginning of October, but that doesn't mean we are out of the woods here in Southwest Florida.
"Red Tide was starting before Milton and maybe around the time of Helene or a little bit before Helene, naturally related to ocean processes in the Gulf of Mexico," said Dr. Mike Parsons, Biological Oceanographer with Florida Gulf Coast University’s Water School.
While one might think that blooms are directly related to the recent hurricane activity, Dr. Parsons says not so fast.
"The thing about Red Tide is it almost always starts in the beginning of October,” said Dr. Parsons. “That's where you would want to put your money down if you were betting person. It is just coincidence that it happens to be around peak hurricane season."
But do hurricanes like Milton and Helene impact the red tide? The short answer is --it can. One of the things we saw post-Helene was a significant upwelling event along Florida's gulf coast.
"That upwelling is significant for two reasons,” said Dr. Parsons. “Bringing in nutrients, but also, we think Red Tide moves along the bottom, along the sea floor. And that will bring it up to the surface."
Another source of nutrients comes from the flush of water draining into gulf from our rivers, creeks, and streams. Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation recently shared this image showing the tanning water off the Sanibel Lighthouse post Helene and Milton.
"You do have nutrients often associated with this runoff, but it is freshwater,” said Dr. Parsons. “Red Tide cannot survive in freshwater. So, when you have these big runoff events, lots of freshwater, lots of nutrients, that actually creates a barrier preventing Red Tide from accessing that until dilutes significantly with the Gulf of Mexico waters."
Unfortunately, Dr. Parsons expects the current bloom to move south ----towards Southwest Florida.
"Typical we get a long shore current that moves north to south,” said Dr. Parsons. “We've had this cold front come through and I think there is another one behind it coming. Pretty steady northern winds, so that is going to help push that water to the south."
Despite that south movement, it doesn't mean that the bloom will stay intact and grow. It could die off before the bloom reaches us.
"Red tide is kind of like a hurricane,” said Dr. Parsons. “You know it is there. Is it coming? How long is it going to last? How bad is it going to be? And I think what we really need to focus on is how we can prepare for it."
Dr. Parsons says while some years have been exceptionally bad, red tide is not normally everywhere. He says you typically can go a mile or two down the beach and everything will be fine.
