Red Tide: What It Is And Why You Need To Avoid Going Near It

A type of microscopic algae called Karenia brevis has grown rapidly in Florida, leaving dead fish on the shore.

Harmful “red tide” is wreaking smelly havoc on Florida’s Gulf Coast, canceling some beachgoers’ spring break vacations, causing burning eyes and breathing irritation in humans, and killing wildlife.

In recent weeks, a type of microscopic algae called Karenia brevis has grown rapidly there in what is popularly known as red tide, due to the way that so-called harmful algae blooms change the color of ocean water.

These blooms develop offshore and are brought closer to land by currents and winds, usually from an upwelling of nutrients from the ocean floor. And they don’t just happen in Florida; red tides can occur in ocean bodies around the world, and as the result of other kinds of algae, too, though the ones caused by K. brevis are particularly harmful to humans and animals.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/red-tide-why-avoid-going-165226959.html