Red tide causing Charlotte Co. fish kills - WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral & Naples, Florida

Red tide causing Charlotte Co. fish kills

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Red tide is being blamed for thousands of dead fish that have washed up along the beaches in Charlotte County.

Crews have been busy cleaning up the beaches along Blind Pass, Manasota and Englewood Beach. But it's not keeping people away from the beach.

This is the time of year when a most people come to Florida to visit the beaches and that's exactly what they're going to do - even with the fish kill.

Dead fish litter the sand, piling up as the waves come crashing in. Marine biologists say the smaller ones are typically the first ones to go, like grunts, mullet and pinfish.

A red tide bloom first hit the area in October. Now officials say the concentration has picked up along the coast particularly in Sarasota and Charlotte counties.

That means fish are dying and people are coughing.

"I was really surprised I was shocked they were here and no body was cleaning them up and that there were so many," said Brea Oliver from New York.

"I knew the red rude was here so you knew there'd be some dead fish. It was more than I expected," added Ashley Law, also from New York.

On the public beach in Englewood, Charlotte County Community Services cleans up all the dead fish.

On the rest of the private beaches, the owners are responsible for cleaning up the fish or letting nature run its course.

Miles away in Collier County, signs at Barefoot Beach warn beachgoers that red tide is present, but no dead fish have been seen so far.

Red tide naturally occurs in the Gulf but usually starts blooming in the fall. It's been around Southwest Florida since October. Experts say it's hard to predict when the red tide bloom might disappear again.

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