Originally published in the News-Press by Amy Bennett Williams on June 4, 2024 Already, cyanobacteria is blooming upriver, streaking shorelines from the rural community of Alva east of I-75 to Fort Myers Shores, some five miles from downtown. Despite the sliming,...
Originally published in the WGCU News on February 16, 2025 The normal blue and green waters of The Gulf have been stained a burnt orange thanks to a massive bloom of Red Tide. The imminent cause is unknown, but environmental and human factors are believed to be part...
Originally published in the News-Press by Chad Gillis on February 5, 2025 The bloom has at times stretches from Tampa Bay to the Florida Keys. “Over 20 million a cells per liter off Sanibel, and that’s the high kill-zone level,” said Calusa...
Originally published on NBC-2 by Ryan Arbogast on January 28, 2025 A large-scale red tide bloom, roughly 100 square miles in size, is floating in the Gulf of Mexico about 25 miles off the Southwest Florida coastline, stretching from Charlotte Harbor to beyond Marco...
Originally published by Andrew Shipley on Fox4 on January 8, 2025 Red tide has been blooming off our coastline for nearly four months now, but we haven’t seen those major impacts one typically associates with the blooms. “We are seeing it rise in severity, then...
Originally published by Boca Beacon on January 2, 2025 The island had a large number of dead mullet up and down the beach over t he New Year, the result of a possible red tide outbreak offshore. “This is an unfortunate persistent presence of Red Tide since the...
Originally published on Fox4 by Austin Schargorodski on December 21, 2024 Calusa Waterkeeper put out a red tide update, saying this season’s unpredictable weather is actually giving our coastline some relief. The organization said strong east winds have kept the...
Originally published in the News-Press by Chad Gillis on December 19, 2024 Offshore winds have kept the bloom mostly away from local beaches and out in the open Gulf of Mexico. “There hasn’t been much visibly, mostly because of the wind,” said Calusa...
Originally published on Boca Beacon by Anna Ridilla on November 28, 2024 Experts are still watching red tide, but with winds, and cooler weather, the area may escape a bad season. The Calusa Waterkeeper has been seeing fluctuating results for red tide amounts, said...
Originally published by Ocean Grants on November 18, 2024 Harmful algal blooms have been at the center of Calusa Waterkeeper’s science-based advocacy initiatives exploring the impacts of water quality on human health, our economy, and quality of life. Originally...
Originally published on WINK News by Elizabeth Biro on November 4, 2024 A storm is churning and on track to make its way into the Gulf of Mexico. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission red tide map shows background to low concentrations of it offshore...
Originally published in Gulfshore Business by John Guerra on September 9, 2024 Under LOSOM, if there’s an active red tide in the Gulf and blue-green algae in the lake, the Army Corps can decide against releasing water from the 730-square-mile freshwater lake until...
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...
Originally published in the Fort Myers News-Press by Chad Gillis on August 26, 2024 Calusa Waterkeeper Codty Pierce said only time will tell how well LOSOM works for the Caloosahatchee River. “We have yet to see how things are going to react,” Pierce said....
Recently, I was asked to speak on The Chamber of Southwest Florida’s water quality panel. The host, Peter Busch of NBC-2, asked each panelist to rate the current state of our water quality on a scale of 1-10. The responses from those directly responsible for...
Originally published in the Fort Myers News-Press by Chad Gillis on August 15, 2024 There’s a fish kill going on in Matlacha Pass, and some water experts think it’s due to a lack of oxygen in the water. Warm waters, the idea goes, have lowered oxygen...
Originally published on NBC-2 by Rachel Whelan on August 15, 2024 New images from a local environmental organization are showing shocking water quality conditions off our coast. Calusa Waterkeeper Codty Pierce is documenting our water conditions in the wake of...
Originally published on Fox4 by Andrew Shipley on August 14, 2024 A little over a week ago, Hurricane Debby dumped millions of gallons of water across Southwest Florida. Now question is what is in that water and what is it doing to our environment as it pushes out...
Originally published in the Fort Myers News-Press by Chad Gillis on August 13, 2024 Tropical Storm Debby played out similar to National Weather Service forecasts for Southwest Florida with impacts to homes, businesses, roads and cars. And although nature has evolved...
Originally published on Fox4 by Domingo Murray on August 13, 2024 “We’ve had dead fish at the shoreline, many times, not a whole lot… about a dozen times in 30 years,” he said. Tuesday morning Talbott called FOX4 about the issue, so we reached...
Originally published in the News-Press by Chad Gillis on July 26, 2024 Heavy rains bring nutrient inputs from Lake Okeechobee, the upper Caloosahatchee watershed (which is largely agriculture) and urbanized areas like Fort Myers and Cape Coral. The nutrients can feed...
Originally published on Fox-4 by Bella Line on June 21, 2024 The temperature is heating up in the air, and the water. We know that blue-green algae is something we deal with in the summer, but Calusa Waterkeeper volunteers tell me it’s early in the season for...
Calusa Waterkeeper is among five conservation organizations and the City of Stuart, Florida to petition the Environmental Protection Agency to set limits on the dangerous algae bloom toxins that now routinely threaten the health of Floridians and wildlife. It has now...
A recent News-Press article (“Well-known FGCU professor accused of downplaying blue-green algae by water advocate”) overlooks the principal barrier to public understanding of Florida’s persistent blue-green algae – the calibration of exposure to risk....
Originally published by Florida Weekly on August 10, 2023 and written by Roger Williams. When Susan Bennett, born and raised in Fort Myers, stared into the Caloosahatchee River seven stories below the balcony of her downtown home one recent morning, the potentially...
Originally published by WINK News on July 26, 2023 Water infested with blue-green algae is not safe to swim in, play in or drink because of harmful toxins. Although, far less is known about what’s in the air regarding those same algae outbreaks. Nevertheless, one...
Originally published by WINK News on July 21, 2023 Water releases aren’t expected anytime soon directly from Lake Okeechobee, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. Nevertheless, blue-green algal blooms are present on the lake, in the Caloosahatchee and along...
Originally published by The News-Press on July 20, 2023 by Chad Gillis A toxic blue-green algae bloom that’s been drifting around downtown Fort Myers has now spread to other areas, including the Cape Coral Yacht Club. “We do have an (air testing) unit near...
Originally published by The News-Press on July 14, 2023 by Chad Gillis A toxic blue-green algae bloom appears to be strengthening its grip on the Caloosahatchee River, as green slicks of the organisms are visible in downtown Fort Myers. “I’ve been seeing...
Originally published by The News-Press on June 23, 2023 by Chad Gillis Health official confirmed Friday that a blue-green algae outbreak in the Caloosahatchee River is toxic to humans and animals. “A bloom occurs when rapid growth of algae leads to an...
