Post by goindeep on Jul 30, 2008 12:17:15 GMT -5
In case you havent heard:
www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7087594&version=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1
TAMPA - What's that smell along the Courtney Campbell Causeway? Dead fish, that's what - and lots of them.
Thousands of fish are either floating in Old Tampa Bay or have washed ashore in recent days, prompting the closure of Ben T. Davis Beach.
"The water turned brown, the smell and the fish started showing up," said Barry Thomas, Aquatic Director for the City of Tampa Parks and Recreation Department.
"This has not come with a red tide warning or anything like that," he said
Marine Biologists have initially ruled out red tide. Instead, they figure oxygen levels have been depleted, suffocating the fish.
"Fish might be trapped," said Jan Landsberg with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg. Landsberg said it looks like an aggressive algae bloom is causing the kill, which appears to be limited to Old Tampa Bay.
"It's like a cul de sac, or something like that," she said. "Fish are swimming and they get pushed into one area."
Landsberg said it is also possible a thorny species of algae could be the culprit.
"Some of these algae actually get caught in their gills," said Landsberg. That "can affect their ability to aerate," she said.
Steve Huard, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Health, said water from Deb T. Davis Beach tested positive for Enterococci. Huard said that bacteria can cause intestinal trouble in people.
Huard said more water samples will be collected Wednesday, and results should be available Thursday.
Ben T. Davis will remain closed, Huard said.
www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7087594&version=3&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1
TAMPA - What's that smell along the Courtney Campbell Causeway? Dead fish, that's what - and lots of them.
Thousands of fish are either floating in Old Tampa Bay or have washed ashore in recent days, prompting the closure of Ben T. Davis Beach.
"The water turned brown, the smell and the fish started showing up," said Barry Thomas, Aquatic Director for the City of Tampa Parks and Recreation Department.
"This has not come with a red tide warning or anything like that," he said
Marine Biologists have initially ruled out red tide. Instead, they figure oxygen levels have been depleted, suffocating the fish.
"Fish might be trapped," said Jan Landsberg with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg. Landsberg said it looks like an aggressive algae bloom is causing the kill, which appears to be limited to Old Tampa Bay.
"It's like a cul de sac, or something like that," she said. "Fish are swimming and they get pushed into one area."
Landsberg said it is also possible a thorny species of algae could be the culprit.
"Some of these algae actually get caught in their gills," said Landsberg. That "can affect their ability to aerate," she said.
Steve Huard, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Health, said water from Deb T. Davis Beach tested positive for Enterococci. Huard said that bacteria can cause intestinal trouble in people.
Huard said more water samples will be collected Wednesday, and results should be available Thursday.
Ben T. Davis will remain closed, Huard said.
