Originally published in the Fort Myers News-Press by Chad Gillis on August 30, 2024
The waters in Matlacha Pass have cleared after post-Debby conditions caused a fish kill there.
Tropical Storm Debby dropped several inches of rain across the region, and a lot of that water ended up in Matlacha Pass.
Due to excess nutrients and low dissolved oxygen levels and other water quality issues, hundreds of fish died near the small fishing community.
Calusa Waterkeeper Codty Pierce said the waters have cleared since but that he’s still concerned about nutrients in the system.
“The majority of that turbidity issue has been flushed out,” Pierce said. “The only place I’m seeing turbidity and algae is in the little oxbows, and following that fish kill we were leading up to a strong moon and a lot of water is being flushed and it’s flushed all the contaminants north and south.”
Pierce said the water is still loaded with nutrients, and that those nutrients could eventually feed an algae bloom or create another water quality problem.
“The sediments and nutrients are still in the ecosystem,” he said. “Some of the suspended nutrients have been flushed out but there’s still a tremendous amount of sediment on the sea floor.”
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