ENVIRONMENT

'The worst I've seen.' Red tide waning but still present in Bay County for 3rd week

Nathan Cobb
The News Herald

PANAMA CITY BEACH — Cody Weaver says the recent flair up of red tide is the worst he has seen in seven years of living in Panama City Beach. 

As a bartender and server at Hook'd Pier Bar & Grill, a restaurant located near the  entrance of the Russell-Fields Pier, Weaver said the harmful and intrusive algae bloom is a common topic of conversation for recent customers. 

"It's not usually this bad, (and) it definitely is the worst I've seen," he said. "We definitely hear customers talking about it. They come down here on vacation and want to spend a good time on the beach (and) can't really do that because of the red tide."

For at least the third week in a row, concentrations of the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, were present in water samples collected in Bay County.

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Weaver also said that with the majority of the restaurant's seating outside, the ongoing issue hinders business because "people aren't really wanting to eat outside when they can't breathe and they're coughing."

However, it does appear red tide has become less common in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Bay County, according to an updated post Wednesday afternoon on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission website. 

The update notes that very low to medium concentrations of the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, were present in 16 water samples collected in Bay County over the past week. 

Two weeks ago, very low to high levels of the harmful algae bloom were detected in 18 local water samples. A dozen positive samples were collected three weeks ago, when a fish kill — likely linked to red tide — occurred near Shell Island. 

While the effects of red were not felt on Wednesday at the M.B Miller Pier, an update posted Wednesday afternoon on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission website confirmed the harmful algae bloom still is present along the Gulf of Mexico in Bay County.

Local health officials have said red tide can cause some people to have mild to short-lived respiratory symptoms such as eye, nose and throat irritation similar to cold symptoms. Others with breathing problems such as asthma could experience more severe symptoms. 

Symptoms usually go away once a person leaves the area or goes indoors. Experts also recommend that people who experience symptoms should stay away from beach areas. Those with persistent symptoms should contact their health care provider. 

Though red tide still is present in Bay County for at least the third week in a row, John Carlson, a research biologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Southeast Fisheries Science Center in Panama City, said it seems like wind patterns have dispersed some of the algae blooms from local waters. 

Carlson, who studies local shark populations, also said it is possible that the recent flair up of red tide caused a dip in some species. However, he has not been out in the field for the past few weeks because of lingering COVID-19 restrictions, so he was not sure as of Thursday how severe any affects might be. 

"Monitoring the abundance of coastal sharks is the job that I'm doing," Carlson said. "If we see a sudden decrease in abundance, there might be (some) extreme factors such as red tide ... causing sharks to die or causing them to leave the area."