Originally published in The News-Press by Amy Bennett Williams on April 30, 2020 With the height of algae season still months away, warm weather water woes are already starting to make their presence felt in Southwest Florida. From sludgy scum hugging Matlacha pilings...
Conservation groups filed a notice today of their intent to sue the Trump administration for failing to acknowledge the harms that toxic releases from Lake Okeechobee pose to protected wildlife like sea turtles and smalltooth sawfish. The Center for Biological...
As seen in a News-Press Op-Ed submitted by John Cassani, Calusa Waterkeeper Ineffective water quality legislation is the source of the age-old adage “the solution to pollution is dilution.” Apparently the dilution part it isn’t out of vogue with the Florida...
As seen in a TC Palm Op-Ed submitted by Dr. Walter Bradely and Calusa Waterkeeper Board Member, Howard Simon Floridians are well-aware of the acute environmental and health problems of harmful algal blooms and they are looking to their political representatives to...
Originally published in The Associated Press by Bobby Caina Calvan on January 22, 2020 The scum of blue-green algae was so thick and invasive in Florida two years ago that it suffocated fish by the thousands. Birds dropped dead. And people stayed out of the water....
Blue-Green Algae Returns to Fort Myers Shores Originally published by WINK News on January 8, 2020 John Cassani, the Calusa Waterkeeper, said to see algae in the middle of the dry season is unusual. ”When it’s calm and the wind starts blowing, those tend to stick...
Originally published in Naples Daily News by AKarl Schneider on November 20, 2019 The largest number of sea turtle strandings in a single month were reported in Collier County in October. Maura Kraus, the sea turtle expert for Collier County, said that she has...
Conservation Groups Send a Letter Urging Florida Officials to Set Water-quality Standards for the Harmful Toxins in Algal Blooms. The groups are calling on the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to establish legal limits for cyanotoxins that pose severe...
Originally published by FOX4 News on November 4, 2019 Calusa Waterkeeper posted pictures to their Facebook page showing a dead goliath grouper on the beach. This was on Naples Beach, south of the Naples Pier over the weekend. The post says the fish likely died from...
Originally published by WINK News on August 5, 2019 How does algae impact your health? On Monday evening, scientists, health officials and clean water activists talked to many of you about what the green gunk we saw last year does to your body. On Monday night, there...
Originally published in Becker’s Hopsital Review by Kelly Gooch on July 29, 2019 Healthcare providers have a new medical code to document illnesses related to red tide or blue-green algae, according to usatoday.com. The new code, Z77.121, aims to help quantify...
Leading Researchers to Discuss Threat to Public Health It’s a problem we can’t ignore. Scientific evidence showing the health risks of harmful algal blooms in Southwest Florida waterways will be the focus of Calusa Waterkeeper’s “Public Health Alert – Florida Water...
Originally published in The News-Press by Amy Bennett Williams on July 12, 2019 Earlier this week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers acknowledged it has released water from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers that has contained toxic...
Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani has the most recent readings from Lake Okeechobee’s harmful algal bloom and microcystin levels. He also shares updates on bacterial hotspots happening in some popular Southwest Florida recreational waterways. Additional Resources:...
Originally published in Sanibel-Captiva Islander by CJ Haddad on July 9, 2019 For Southwest Florida, summer months can mean heat, afternoon rain and, as Southwest Florida saw all too well last year, harmful algal blooms. Calusa Waterkeeper’s Florida Water Summit...
Originally published in The News-Press by Amy Bennett Williams on July 7, 2019 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is now warning boaters about toxic cyanobacteia, also called blue-green algae, in Lake Okeechobee and the 154-mile Okeechobee Waterway, which includes the...
Florida’s DEP urged to include cyanotoxins in water quality standards Cyanobacteria, harmful algal blooms (HABs), and their root causes have been well-known problems in Florida’s waters for quite some time. The state’s first Harmful Algal Bloom Task...
Originally published by WGCU Media by Mike Kiniry & Julie Glenn on June 17, 2019 High volume releases of nutrient-rich, and blue-green algae laden water from Lake Okeechobee last summer led to massive algae blooms along the Caloosahatchee River, in Cape Coral...
An Opinion Column originally published in The News-Press and written by John Cassani, Linda Penniman & Howard Simon on May 27, 2019 The roundtable convened by Rep. Francis Rooney with federal, state and local officials about the public health consequences of...
Originally published in The News-Press by Amy Bennett Williams on May 23, 2019 Amid rising concern about the potential health effects of toxic algae, the Environmental Protection Agency released official safety advice Wednesday that advocates say falls far short of...
Originally published by FOX4 News on May 17, 2019 A resident in North Fort Myers posted pictures of blue-green algae in their backyard on the Caloosahatchee River on Tuesday. Calusa Waterkeeper found algae appearing on the river all the way from Labelle to North Fort...
Originally published in The News-Press by Amy Bennett Williams on May 6, 2019 Governor Ron DeSantis will attend U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney’s multi-agency roundtable on harmful algal blooms at FGCU this morning. DeSantis will then join Rooney and officials at a...
Originally published in The News-Press by Amy Bennett williams on April 7, 2019 With toxic algae fouling Southwest Florida’s inland waterways and coastline last year, state health officials faced a flood of worried questions as people turned to them for crisis...
Originally published in The News-Press by Amy Bennett williams on April 1, 2019 U.S. Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Naples, is pressing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to share what it knows about the short- and long-term health effects of the toxic algae that...
Originally published by WINK News on March 29, 2019 Thursday night, President Donald Trump landed in Florida ahead of his highly anticipated visit to Lake Okeechobee and the Herbert Hoover Dike. Trump toured both the dike and the lake by helicopter Friday, where he...
As reported by Chad Gillis of the Naples Daily News on Mar 25, 2019. A toxic blue-green algae that choked the Fort Myers-Cape Coral area last summer has shown up in dolphins with brain disease. Researchers tested 14 stranded dolphins from Florida and Massachusetts,...
Originally reported by WINK News on Mar 21, 2019. Toxic blue-green algae hit it Southwest Florida hard in 2018. Dolphins washed up on our shores by the dozen. Research at UM is shining a light on what happened to these animals. Newly released research by scientists at...
Originally published in The News-Press by Amy Bennett Williams on March 2, 2019. The nonprofit will use the funds from the Southwest Florida Community Foundation to engage with healthcare frontline workers and decision-makers about the effects of the harmful algae...
As seen in a News-Press OpEd submitted by John Cassani, Calusa Waterkeeper, February 1, 2019 Southwest Florida residents will be the first to weigh in on the Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) public scoping process for the new Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual...
