Beth

I checked this thread because it had a lot of replies and sure enough, I found it populated by Olive Oyl and her other personalites. At least nine of the posts on here have to be from her. Amazing but consistent, OO!

kim

I'm from the Upper Midwest and until reading this post I had never heard of red tide. Is this something that happens at the same time every year and does it hit the the whole Gulf Coast?

OliveOyl

No, Beth, you are dead wrong. I had two posts. This makes 3. I have the gumption to go against the tide under my own moniker. Do you?

Kim, it's sporadic and even when present, could be off the beaches of one town, but not another just a couple of miles away...and any particular beach can go years without experiencing it...then have it several times in one year.

Olive Supporter

The worse part of it is peeing your pants when you get a coughing fit.

Hal

And now for something completely different: A reply to the message!

Cheryl, having lived in both the Naples area as well as the Destin area, here's my take on red tide. It varies in degrees of severity. Sometimes it's light and goes away in a few days and sometimes it will linger or re-occur for a month or more. It CAN be irritating to breathe and on the skin. It is a form of red algae, which isn't good. It seems as though it makes for worse respiratory problems when the weather's cool and damp. In the summer it doesn't seem to be as bad respiratory-wise. It can be very lethal to marine life, there have been instances where they have literally had to bulldoze the beaches in southwest FL to get rid of the carcasses, etc. I would also say that just like other irritants, some people may be more affected than others.

There have been instances (in cooler weather) when it's hard to breathe in without coughing like you have whooping cough. So, it's not deadly to humans, but it CAN make you sick depending on the severity of the red tide outbreak.

Unfortunately, it is a common occurance at virtually all beaches in FL. Though its source is disputed, red algae is commonly found in areas of pollutants, runoff, and human waste/drainage.

My advice (finally getting to it!) would be to check in (w/ the forum) a day or two before you leave since red tide can appear and vanish pretty quickly sometimes. Your fisherman will also have good info on the water and coasts, so you may also try looking up a charter service and just ask them if the red tide is still around. Hope this helps!

Cheryl

Hal, thanks for your reply. I called the Sanibel Chamber of Commerce yesterday. Red tide is no longer active along the beaches. However, I was told that it had been one of their worst instances of red tide ever. I guess they usually leave the carcases on the beach to be washed away, but it was so bad they are bulldozing them off the beach. I was there during red tide a few years ago and it was truly a disgusting mess. The odor was overwhelming and the amount of dead fish had to easily been in the thousands.

I couldn't understand why some of the posters were stating that it's no big deal; however, perhaps the part of Florida they live in has experienced only small to moderate red tides and, therefore, it's no big deal to them. Maybe the same conditions that carry all those shells to Sanibel are responsible for the amount of dead fish that wash up during red tide. When it's that bad, there is no way you can spend time on the beach. Needless to say, the Chamber of Comm. rep told me that by the time I get there the beaches should be free and clear.

Thanks again for your helpful reply.

Anon

Do you really think the Chamber of Commerce is going to say "It's bad here don't come"? Get real.

urnever

Yeah, people have the "gumption" to post under there own monikers....when they're not posting incognito, that is. Syntax and writing styles of certain individuals are very obvious, whether they're using a moniker or xxx.com BTW, when did using a so-called real e-mail or phony nickname became the hallmark of courage? What, are you saving kids from burning buildings or something? No, you have an anonymous, made-up name on a chat site. Yeah, it's Medal of Honor time all right. Call the president.

So you want obscene hate mail and spam, and the world will know the name of your employer. Courageous? How about pompous, naive and foolish.

Cheryl

Wow. All I wanted to know was what the present red tide situation was in Sanibel, and an all out war starts. Who would have thought dead fish could bring out so many mean spirited responses. Well, I'm going to Sanibel, red tide or not, and I'll have a good time because I'll be spending an entire week with my husband and son in a beautiful, warm place. It doesn't get any better than that. The rest of you are welcome to stay and fight it out. I'm outta here! (P.S. Thanks again, Hal).

Sue

Cheryl-No red tide at the hotel pool. ;o) Have fun! And the rest of you behave yourselves. My four year old acts more mature than some of you.

RED TIDE

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN - THIS IS A MESSAGE FROM THE RED TIDE TESTING CENTER...This has been a test of the effects of RED TIDE on Fodor's posters... as you can see, the Red Tide causes severe irritation, grumpiness, and short tempers.

One can only hope that the above infected posters don't ruin my vacation next week....

THIS ENDS THE RED TIDE EFFECTS TESTING TEST... Please return to your normal posting...

Susan

To Hal: You indicated that RT is occurs an all Fla. beaches. I have known for a long time that it can be a problem on the West Coast but I did not know that it also affected all Fla. beaches specifically the Southeast Coast around Miami/Ft. Lauderdale/West Palm. (They have sea lice in May/June & sometimes April but that's another discussion!)