The Grotesque Truth About FL’s Red Tide Disaster: Lake O’ Green Algae Dumps to Blame

August 3rd, 2018

Contributing writer for Wake Up World

Despite Mote Marine Labs, Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Commission, and the Mainstream Media’s unilateral denial that Green Algae releases from Lake O’ would catalyze what is possibly the worst Red Tide outbreak in the state’s history, it’s now happened and will continue to happen until the grotesquely obvious truth is accepted.

Apparently, in my last report, titled “Toxic Algae: Obvious Causes of FL’s Environmental Disaster Denied By Media and Authorities,” the point wasn’t made clear enough: namely, the recent Lake O’ releases of billions of gallons of green algae contaminated water would make it to the Gulf of Mexico and feed the flames of toxic red algae blooms.

As you can see by the Red Tide chart below (possibly the worst outbreak in Florida’s history), this is exactly what happened, and continues to happen, despite the disinformation coming from Big Sugar, Mote Marine Labs, and the Florida Wildlife and Game Commission, all of which deny that Red Tide is fed by green algae that originates from land-based, human activities.

Red = Extremely Toxic to the Public (Learn more here.)

This cause-effect relationship between the ‘green slime’ organism Synechoccus and the Red Tide organism Karenia brevis has been known for almost a decade, as evidenced by this peer-reviewed, published research that proves it:

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“Grazing by Karenia brevis on Synechococcus enhances its growth rate and may help to sustain blooms“

Aquatic Microbial Ecology 55(1):17-30 · March 2009

“ABSTRACT: Grazing rates of Karenia brevis Clones CCMP2228 and CCMP2229 were determined in laboratory experiments using Synechococcus sp. Clone CCMP1768 as food. Grazing by K. brevis thus enhances the range of nutritional substrates available to meet its growth requirements, and may play a substantial role in sustaining natural populations in inorganic N-poor waters. With evidence that blooms of Synechococcus can be enhanced due to anthropogenic nutrients, the potential importance of this particulate nutrient source for sustaining red tide blooms in situ is large and may help to resolve the current uncertainty as to how K. brevis blooms are maintained. It can now be hypothesized that as cyanobacterial blooms increase, so too does the potential for Karenia brevis growth to be enhanced and for blooms to be sustained through grazing, especially under the low light conditions associated with bloom self-shading. Recognition of this pathway is at least one step toward reconciling the long-term reported increase in K. brevis blooms (e.g. Brand & Compton 2007) and the tendency for blooms of this species to develop offshore in seemingly oligotrophic waters (e.g. Vargo et al. 2004, 2008)”

This year’s Red Tide outbreak is a direct, and ‘natural’ consequence of the Lake O’ releases and has already killed countless organisms in the sea, all the way up the food chain to sharks and whales, manatees and turtles. There have also been numerous reports of harm done to the exposed human population, including a spate of hospitalizations. Unfortunately, the latest word from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers is that the Lake O’ releases will continue because they have ‘nowhere else to send the water.’

It’s been over five years since I, and the environmental group in Sarasota Advocate Precautionary Principle, first tried to draw attention to the problem of greatly worsening Red Tide outbreaks being a manmade one, and not simply nutrient run-off, but the green algae being at the heart of the problem. The issue is so politicized that few will touch it. But the result of this intentional ignorance is the environmental disaster in Florida grows worse and worse each day. The very powerful tourism, real estate, and agricultural interests that wish to hide the problem in daylight (impossible to do now) are simply creating an even worse disaster not just for the environment but for Florida’s economy. Who, in their right mind, would visit or buy a home in a state that has beaches that look like this below, and which could seriously harm you?

Please help us spread awareness of the true cases of both the toxic green algae and red tide outbreaks in Florida. Support local environmental and activist groups — not the ones who are simply mouthpieces to special interests like Mote Marine Labs but the Calusa Waterkeepers, BullSugar.org and Southwest Florida Clean Water Movement — and help us put an end to the deliberate poisoning of the environment due to the bottom line of special interests and decades of poor water management practices in Florida.

If these failed water management practices continue the toxic green algae and red tide outbreaks will continue to expand over the course of the next month, and that means we haven’t seen the worst yet as far as environmental and health fallout. Now is the time to act.