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Florida red tide may drift eastward

MOBILE REGISTER

Toxic algae could drift into Alabama waters, depending on weather, say scientists

09/26/00

By LEE DAVIDSON Staff Reporter

GULF SHORES - Red tide is hovering along Florida's Gulf Coast, but scientists said Monday there was no evidence that the toxic algae had invaded Alabama waters.

On Sept. 17, Tropical Storm Gordon hit land about 100 miles north of Tampa Bay at Cedar Key, Fla. In Gordon's wake came red tide, which shifted closer to Alabama waters with the winds that followed the storm.

But even with that motion, the algae still was not in Alabama as of Monday, said Jonathan Pennock, an oceanographer with Dauphin Island Sea Lab.

A few days after Gordon, the relatively mild-mannered Tropical Storm Helene drifted ashore just west of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and eventually faded. It brought whirling winds and choppy weather to the Florida Gulf Coast but did little to churn red tide in Alabama's direction, Pennock said.

"The Florida folks have been in the midst of it for about a month now. We don't know when or if it'll come our way. Gordon did move the bloom in our direction but that was to the Fort Walton area, not to us," Pennock said.

"There was concern about Helene bringing it in to us but they don't have data for that yet. That's just conjecture," he added.

Lewis Byrd, a marine specialist with the Alabama Department of Public Health, who takes samples to detect red tide, said that state waters showed no evidence last week of G. breve, the organism that causes red tide. A crew will draw samples again in the middle of this week, he said.

Byrd added that Helene probably did more to "break up the bloom" than to push it farther west.

Dead fish, evidence that red tide is nearby, have been found ashore in Destin, Fla., about 90 miles from Alabama, said Steve Heath, chief marine biologist at Marine Re sources Division of the state Conservation Department.

"There is no immediate threat here," Heath said.

The Marine Resources Division recommends that people avoid contact with any sick or dying fish they encounter.

For more information or to report a red tide-related illness, Heath encouraged people to call the Marine Resources Division at 968-7576.

The algae can cause fish to suffocate. For humans, the result is often burning or itching sensations in the eyes, nose and throat. Health officials say that while red tide toxins can be severely irritating, they rarely have prolonged effects.

Red tide also releases toxins into the air that can aggravate some people's respiratory systems, much like ragweed pollen stimulates hay fever attacks. The irritants in the sea spray can reach as much as a quarter-mile inland from the beach. Pennock said if beach-goers experience such allergic reactions - and not everyone does - when walking along the beach, it's better not to go swimming.

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