Manatee/Sarasota-Area Red Tide Intensifies - 2 Months Old Already

[hatrack]

BRADENTON -- A nearly 2-month-old red tide bloom is getting worse off Sarasota and Manatee county beaches, turning the Gulf of Mexico's aqua-colored water to clay-brown, washing up dead fish and keeping sun-worshippers away.

On Anna Maria Island near Bradenton, Manatee County crews spent the past few days scooping up fish off the beach, hotel operators said Monday. George Tatge with the Sarasota County Parks Department said his crews spent the weekend removing more than 60 tons of dead seaweed and fish from Siesta Key over the weekend.

As recently as 10 days ago, Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute sampling detected mostly low concentrations of red tide off Charlotte and Sarasota counties and none off Manatee County.

But the bloom exploded off all three counties' coastlines last week. The institute's testing detected high concentrations of the algae in 11 locations last week, compared with just four the week before.

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