Toxic red tide a "massive bloom in our area hasn't happened in over a decade"
By Kati Weis, FOX10 News Reporter
By Photojournalist: Jason Cooper
DAUPHIN ISLAND, AL (WALA)
A harmful algae blooming in the Gulf is causing some serious problems for the Alabama Gulf Coast.
It's commonly called "red tide" because the blooms can turn the water a deep red.
According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, samples of the red tide have been collected from Florida Point to Fort Morgan, Mobile Bay, Weeks Bay, Bayou la Batre and the Mississippi Sound.
Researchers at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab have been working around the clock to collect and analyze thousands of samples - even on a microscopic level - to better understand the red tide in local waters.
"This kind of event hasn't happened in over a decade, so it's a massive bloom in our area," said Dr. Alison Robertson, a toxicologist at the Sea Lab.
Roberts said if you're enjoying a day by the water, and you breathe in the harmful toxins that red tide creates, you could suffer from a runny nose, coughing, or eye irritation.
If you have respiratory problems like asthma, the affects could be even more severe.
What's more, if you ingest the algae, it could affect your nervous system.
"If you were to consume some of these toxins, would be gastrointestinal effects, and maybe some numbness and tingling of your extremities or lips and so on," she said.
Fortunately, the effects on humans are temporary, but for sea life, it's deadly.
"We've had lots of reef fish killed, 30 or 40 reef species, and another 10 or so coastal species that were affected," said Robertson.
Researchers at the Sea Lab have not only been taking water samples to learn more about the red tide, they've also been taking fish samples to learn more about the toxins produced by the red tide. Over the last month they've collected nearly 1,000 dead fish to learn about how much toxin it would take to kill the fish in the water.
Health officials caution oyster harvesters and fishermen until levels lower.
Until then, the red tide is also detrimental for those who depend on the sea food industry.
Some researchers on Dauphin Island are also working with technology they hope can alleviate the negative impact for fishermen in the future.
"Clearly this is a very important issue to anybody working in the coastal area right. if you're harvesting shellfish and you can't harvest shellfish then that's very bad news. The hope is that our research will eventually enable us to better forecast and predict these events before they happen, so we could help the shell fishermen plan for an event like this," said Brian Dzwonkowski, a research scientist at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab.
With that same technology, researchers are currently predicting the red tide could move to the west.
So in the coming weeks, the red tide could possibly end up on the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts.
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