1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain 2 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:10,479 Speaker 1: Stuff Lauren bog Obam here. Since about the summer of 3 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 1: the Gulf Coast of Florida has suffered from a disturbing phenomenon, 4 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:18,760 Speaker 1: an expanse of murky, reddish brown water that kills vast 5 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 1: quantities of fish and other aquatic animals and leaves the 6 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:25,279 Speaker 1: beaches littered with carcasses, reeking from the smell of decomposition. 7 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: The carnage is the result of a phenomenon called a 8 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 1: red tide, an explosion of harmful alkal blooms that occurs 9 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: in ocean waters around the world. According to the u 10 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:40,240 Speaker 1: S National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, these blooms occur when 11 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 1: colonies of particular kinds of algae, which are tiny plants 12 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:46,200 Speaker 1: that can live in both fresh and salt water, grow 13 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: out of control and produce toxins that can kill fish 14 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: and make shellfish unsafe to eat. The red tide that 15 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: choked Florida lasted for almost eighteen months until February of 16 00:00:57,200 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, when it was no longer detected in the waters, 17 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: but now it appears to be back. Scientists from the 18 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission released a report in 19 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,559 Speaker 1: November of twenty nineteen stating that a bloom of red 20 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:12,400 Speaker 1: tide had been observed in southwest Florida and that they 21 00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:16,720 Speaker 1: had received reports of fish kills as well. All harmful 22 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:19,360 Speaker 1: algal blooms have been reported at times in every US 23 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:24,560 Speaker 1: coastal state. They occur nearly every summer along Florida's Gulf coast. There, 24 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:28,320 Speaker 1: the species that most often causes the problem is Corennia brevis, 25 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 1: a microscopic organism with a massive potential for destruction. To 26 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:36,000 Speaker 1: distinguish it from other varieties of red tidek brevis blooms 27 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:40,160 Speaker 1: are called Florida red tide. According to the Florida Fish 28 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 1: and Wildlife Conservation Commission, cab brevist is found in the 29 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:46,319 Speaker 1: waters off of Florida year round in concentrations of a 30 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: thousand cells or less per liter of water, but in 31 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: the summer and early fall, cab Brevis can go wild. 32 00:01:53,520 --> 00:01:56,520 Speaker 1: For example, a study by University of South Florida scientists 33 00:01:56,520 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: published in these scientific journal Censors describes a July fourteen 34 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 1: bloom in which the algae multiplied concentrations of up to 35 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: twenty million per liter of water in some patches and 36 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: formed a bloom that spread over thousands of square miles 37 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:13,959 Speaker 1: of offshore water. Red tides apparently have been happening along 38 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: the Florida coast for a long time. Spanish explorers described 39 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: finding massive fish kills in the fifteen hundreds, and the 40 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: phenomenon was first scientifically documented in the eighteen forties. A 41 00:02:24,560 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: massive Florida red tide event that started in November of 42 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: nine lasted roughly a year and killed estimated one billion fish. 43 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: What exactly causes Florida red tide events remains a little murky, 44 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: though A study published by University of Miami scientists in 45 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: the journal Harmful Algae in December and Yes, there is 46 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,280 Speaker 1: a whole journal for this suggests that it has to 47 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: do with fluctuations in the position of the loop current, 48 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 1: which is a flow of warm water that travels through 49 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: the e Gulf of Mexico. Though red tide has gotten 50 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:00,440 Speaker 1: a lot of media coverage, it's unclear whether looms are 51 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: actually getting any worse. We spoke via email with marine 52 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:08,160 Speaker 1: scientist Dr Vince Loveco, a manager of the phytoplankton Ecology 53 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:12,080 Speaker 1: program at Marine Laboratory and Zarasoda Florida and Hailey Rutger 54 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: Moats content development manager. They explained it's hard to provide 55 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:19,239 Speaker 1: a simple answer about the long term trends in red 56 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: tide frequency, abundance of the algae, size of blooms throughout 57 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: Florida's history, or long term trends and other features because 58 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,799 Speaker 1: data collection has changed and improved so much over time. 59 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 1: Red tides do a lot of damage. The toxins released 60 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: by cabe revis can cause massive die offs of fish, shrimp, sponges, 61 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: sea urchins, crabs, and sea birds. The toxins can cause 62 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: sea turtles to swim in circles and lose their coordinations 63 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:47,800 Speaker 1: so that they become stranded and die. And creatures as 64 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: large as manatees may succumb to the poison as well 65 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: as they eat smaller animals that have ingested the toxins. 66 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: And even people, particularly those with emphysema and asthma, can 67 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 1: be harmed by red tide as coastal INDs blow airborne 68 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: toxins inland as far as a mile or about one 69 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: and a half kilometers. Folks with lung sensitivities are advised 70 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 1: to avoid red tied areas. So can something be done? 71 00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: To stop red tides or at least control them. As 72 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 1: of yet, nobody's come up with a solution. Love Cohen 73 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: Rector said, Corenia brevist occurs naturally in the Gulf of Mexico, 74 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:23,520 Speaker 1: and there is no tried and true way to completely 75 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 1: remove the algae and its impacts without potentially harming gulf ecosystems. However, 76 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:32,159 Speaker 1: we are studying smaller scale control and mitigation methods that 77 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:35,919 Speaker 1: may benefit limited area waterways, such as closed canals in 78 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:41,400 Speaker 1: red tide affected coastal communities. Researchers are exploring some possible 79 00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:44,919 Speaker 1: methods for red tied mitigation, such as living docks covered 80 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:47,719 Speaker 1: with filter feeding animals and oz nation equipment that could 81 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:51,280 Speaker 1: remove red tide from limited areas of water. The use 82 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:55,000 Speaker 1: of K brevast killing compounds from seaweed or other organisms 83 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:57,600 Speaker 1: that would act as parasites on them are other possible 84 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: remedies being evaluated. Today's episode was written by Patrick J. 85 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:08,840 Speaker 1: Kiger and produced by Tyler Clay. Brain Stuff is production 86 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:10,919 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more in 87 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:12,920 Speaker 1: this and lots of other topics, visit our home planet, 88 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: how Stuff Works dot com and for more podcasts for 89 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:18,480 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio visit the heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, 90 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:20,240 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.