What Is a Red Tide?

A toxic red tide has been affecting Florida beaches since last year, and is especially bad right now.

What is a red tide, and why is it called that?

A red tide is actually a bunch of microscopic creatures floating in the water.

The red tide in Florida is the work of a species calledKarenia brevis.

brevisis a single cell, with a little tail that it uses to swim.

It can make food from sunlight, like plants do, so its considered a throw in of algae.

And because its a tiny living thing in the ocean, its also a jot down of plankton.K.

When conditions are right, including plenty of nutrients in the water, algae reproduce.

K. brevisblooms in the ocean every year, and washes up on Floridas Gulf Coast shores.

But the red tide bloom might be feeding on the other one, and fertilizer might play a role.

This years bloom startedlastOctober, and didnt clear up this spring like the blooms typically do.

Theres a good chance it will get worse from here, since red tide season is starting up again.

K. brevismakes a neurotoxin (a poison that affects the nerves and brain) calledbrevetoxin.

This toxin can kill animals, including fish and birds.

Manatees and sea turtles have also turned up dead during the recent red tide.

The toxin is odorless, colorless, and tasteless, and its not destroyed by cooking.

We can also breathe the toxin.

People with asthma or other lung conditions are most at risk, but healthy people can be affected too.

The symptoms you would notice are difficulty breathing, and perhaps eye irritations as well.

The water may be full of dead fish, so its not like you wanted to swim there anyway.

On the other hand, flooding that results from hurricanes can push nutrients into the sea forK.

So well have to wait and see.