Researchers growing fish stew to simulate red tide conditions
Chad GillisMike Parsons is making fish soup.
It's not the kind of soup your great aunt from New England makes each fall. It's the kind scientists whip up to see if they can grow toxic algae.
"What do you do with the dead fish," Parsons asked rhetorically. "We’re looking to compost the fish and potentially use it to make an organic fertilizer, so we’ve got 7-week-old fish soup right now."
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Parsons, a Florida Gulf Coast University professor and member of the Florida Blue-Green Algae Task Force, is working with Cindy Heil at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Sarasota on the $200,000 project.
The two aim to find to what degree dead fish actually feed the red tide.
The idea is that red tide moves into an area, fish are killed and then the dead fish decompose and provide even more nutrients for the red tide to feed from.
"(We're) looking at the decomposing fish and the idea that as they decompose they release nutrients that can go back and feed the red tide more," Parsons said. "Can that kill even more fish so you possibly have a positive feedback loop."
Red tide blooms are initiated by a naturally occurring organism known as Karenia brevis.
Its exists in the Gulf of Mexico at background levels but can grow to deadly concentrations when conditions are right.
Red tides typically start in the fall and end in the winter or beginning of spring.
But scientists still don't know to what degree human-based activities like farming and urbanization can impact red tide blooms.
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Researchers with the University of Miami say red tides have become more frequent, longer lasting and stronger in the past 50 years.
Strong blooms can produce fish kills and even poison marine mammals. It causes respiratory irritation and coughing in humans.
Breathing air tainted with red tide is like a burning tickle in your throat that won't go away.
Fish kills have popped up in Southwest Florida in recent weeks, but Friday's Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission red tide reports show mostly low and background levels across the region, with the higher numbers being found in Lee County.
"Conditions along Lee and Collier counties have been variable over the past few weeks due to ocean currents and winds," said Kelly Richmond with FWC. "A collaborative team of scientists including (us), NOAA, (the University of Florida), and Mote are sampling offshore of those areas right now as part of a weeklong survey to help map the distribution of red tide offshore."
Richmond said the state will continue to document the current bloom while keeping the public informed about potentially toxic conditions.
"Keeping in mind that conditions can change quickly, we are continuing to monitor this patchy bloom," Richmond said.
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Conditions have improved vastly in recent weeks in some areas, with some Collier County beaches seeing red tide counts drop from more than 1 million cells per liter to normal background concentrations.
"Today at Vanderbilt Beach as an example, no respiratory irritation or dead fish were reported," said Dannette Kinaszczuk, with Collier Pollution Control.
The improving conditions have stymied Parsons a little.
"We’re trying to find some more dead fish for the project but it’s been pretty quiet this last couple of weeks," he said. "Last month we would have had more luck."
Connect with this reporter: @ChadEugene on Twitter.