Red Tide -Southwest FL Beaches

[headoflife]

headoflife: All reports are that red tide is not active on Sanibel Island. When we were there in mid-October, it wasn't. Those who've visited in November report it wasn't. Those visiting now or who live on the island report red tide is not active. The Sanibel forums on TripAdvisor are a good source of information.

Thank you! I will check TripAdvisor for the most current info. I have checked the official sources, and it looked good, but I was hoping for personal input. It sounds like I may get that there. If anyone is checking here and has a report from the location, that would be great, too.

 

[Sea Six]

headoflife: All reports are that red tide is not active on Sanibel Island. When we were there in mid-October, it wasn't. Those who've visited in November report it wasn't. Those visiting now or who live on the island report red tide is not active. The Sanibel forums on TripAdvisor are a good source of information.

This contradicts everything I see on the news at night. Our TV comes from Ft Myers, and the reporters are right there. They report the red tide with 3 different color dots on a map. Yellow is light red tide, orange is medium, and red is heavy. For the most part, Collier County down by Naples is yellow, lower Lee County is orange, and the stretch from Ft Myers Beach, along Sanibel, and up to the Cape Haze peninsula are all red dots. As a matter of fact, 5 dolphins washed ashore DEAD last week. A guy I work with who spends a lot of time on his sail boat told me he developed a bacterial infection which led to pneumonia, caused by breathing the air filled with - you guessed it. I assure you red tide is alive and well there.

Plenty of recent stories like this to read:

http://www.nbc-2.com/story/39575053/wildlife-nonprofits-50year-anniversary-marked-by-red-tide

 

[headoflife]

That's awful. I'm not sure what to do now. I'm sorry about the impact on the environment, and the economy of the area, but I'm also not sure I can choose to go there. I had better figure it out before I book airfare. More thoughts?

 

[Bwolf]

I stand by the reports from people on the ground on Sanibel and Captiva. They are there now, period. We were there in October and the red tide had abated. My wife was there in August when it was really bad.

The red tide was bad on both islands for a period of time, but it has abated. The news report cited in post 77 reads like this: "Since red tide started last October, CROW has seen more than 600 patients". The vast majority were long before now. There were also lots of dead fish and other sea life that CROW never got to treat.

headforlife: You are better off going to the Sanibel forums on TripAdvisor and getting honest comments from people on the island now, not a news report that covers over a year of time.

 

[Sugarcubesea]

My aunt owns a condo in Port of the Islands in Naples and she just told me she has not had any red tide issues in her area. Hope that helps.

 

[Sea Six]

My aunt owns a condo in Port of the Islands in Naples and she just told me she has not had any red tide issues in her area. Hope that helps.

Port of the Islands is east of Marco and quite a bit inland - not on the beach. It has a Naples address, but is not really close to downtown Naples. There is no red tide there. We are talking about Sanibel, which is 50 miles northwest of POI.

 

[Laurie]

I stand by the reports from people on the ground on Sanibel and Captiva. They are there now, period. We were there in October and the red tide had abated. My wife was there in August when it was really bad.

The red tide was bad on both islands for a period of time, but it has abated.

Not quite. We've been here in the area since Nov 30, and it has come and gone. We spent last week at South Seas on Captiva, and for about 3 days it was pretty bad. On those days there was a mist blowing in from offshore, causing my eyes to burn and every time I breathed in I started to cough, so we avoided the beaches on those days. Just walking back to our car from Mucky Duck, I had to cover my nose and hold my breath. Even at the pool areas at South Seas we could feel it. But we couldn't feel it inland, specifically at Ding Darling where we spent a lot of time. One day one of the beaches on Sanibel near the causeway was littered a huge # of dead blue crabs which I assume was related. The links in this thread to Red Tide status showed a bright red dot (high) all last week at Captiva, until the end of the week. Local newspaper articles confirmed presence of red tide. Last 2 days, the winds came from the other direction and it was fine.

Now we're down on Ft Myers Beach and no problems here so far.

So now I know what it feels like at that level, and I'm sure it was much more severe earlier in the year. Glad we didn't cancel the trip though, we still had a wonderful time, especially since we had other things we wanted to do besides hang on the beach.

 

[Bwolf]

Laurie, you do know that red tide can be active at some beaches and not others? And you mention one specific beach on Captiva. Sorry though that you had the problem, but it was one beach for a few days. When it pops up in an isolated fashion like that it is annoying. When it devastates an entire region like it did when all beaches on Sanibel and Captiva and surrounding areas were affected, including Fort Myers Beach, it is a tragedy.

Also, you mention you currently are currently experiencing no problems on Fort Myers Beach.

 

[Laurie]

Laurie, you do know that red tide can be active at some beaches and not others? And you mention one specific beach on Captiva. Sorry though that you had the problem, but it was one beach for a few days.

Yes, I do understand that. When the air was really bad on Captiva (at the beach where the 2 islands join, all the way up to the point - we did go out in search of a better spot), it was present in the air but much milder on Lighthouse Baach on Sanibel - but that's where all the dead crabs were. As we walked around the point there to the other side, couldn't feel it. As I understand it, the blooms have been offshore so it will depend on how the winds are blowing, and possibly how much moisture the air is carrying. On the worst day on Captiva, there was heavy mist blowing directly inland, at the beaches droplets of water were visible all day.

I personally wouldn't cancel a trip, as long as there were other reasons to come here besides just beach and pool. But if I had a child with asthma, and my resort were on the beach, and beach + pool were the sole reasons for the trip ... I'd keep checking the maps before springing for the airfare, but the maps do look pretty good at the moment, unlike last week. I just can't adjust for whether this can trigger a more severe asthma attack in a child (or adult), since for me the effects went away when I went inside. And obviously things can change by the day and by the week, in either direction.

I'm writing this sitting on our screened lanai at Ft Myers beach. Breezy day, wind is blowing from the south. No probs.

 

[TravelTime]

Based on this thread, I have canceled any possible trips to Southwest Florida. It does not seem worth it to be guessing if it will enjoyable or not. I am from southeast Florida and have many friends and family in Dade and Broward counties. My father lives in Naples in Collier County. The local Floridians have told me red tide is a problem when the water temperature get above a certain level. I assume this means red tide may be inevitable in the hotter months. This is really bad for the environment and also for real estate values. It seems like the warming of South Florida is happening and it is destructive. My DH and I had been contemplating moving back to Florida but all these environmental issues have us thinking twice.

 

[Laurie]

Latest live update weather report from southern end of Ft Myers Beach: rainy, misty, breezes blowing in from west over the gulf; we went for a walk on the beach, no respiratory problems here.

A so-called "cold" front is blowing in, only up to the low 60's tomorrow (it's all relative). Maybe that'll help diminish any lingering red tide out there in the sea. About 11" of snow today at home and changing over to freezing rain on top of that!