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Red tide strikes area waters, could kill fish, official says CORPUS CHRISTI CALLER-TIMES
Sunday, September 24, 2000
Staff and wire reports
Red tide continues to seep into South Texas waters.
The algae bloom was spotted up and down the beaches Friday from the Matagorda Jetties down to Corpus Christi Bay, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
A fisherman also brought several trout, redfish and flounder killed by the red tide to the Parks and Wildlife Department office in Port O'Connor on Friday. The fish were found in the back bays of Espiritu Santo Bay, said Norman Boyd, a biologist for the department.
On Friday, biologists with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department conducted a fly-over of the Gulf area.
Sightings in the Corpus Christi area included a small patch off of the beach downtown, two patches outside Oso Bay near Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, one long patch west of Island Moorings and south of the ship channel, and a patch at the Port Aransas jetties.
Paul Silva, a natural resource specialist with the Parks and Wildlife Department, said the impact on the Corpus Christi area remains minimal.
"It really hasn't started spreading much in Corpus Christi Bay," Silva said. "It hasn't affected fish in Corpus Christi. When it's a small patch, fish are able to move out of the area. The bay is a pretty open area. It would have to get pretty big."
No dead fish have been reported in Corpus Christi but there were a few spotted in Port Aransas. Red tide was first spotted locally two days ago. It started near Sabine a month ago and has moved south since.
Red tide is the common name for the growth of certain types of algae in marine waters. The algae produce a neurotoxin that can kill fish and shellfish. The lethal threshold for fish is 1 million cells of red tide per milliliter.
If humans eat contaminated fish or shellfish, the toxin can cause numbness, dizziness, nausea, fever and muscle paralysis. The most serious cases can result in respiratory arrest and death.
Staff writer Jason Ma and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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