Is red tide on Florida’s coast here to stay? What to know about easing the toxic bloom

With red tide again frustrating beachgoers since October, many residents may be wondering what can be done about it.

Scientists have been working to find technologies that will help lessen the hazardous effects of red tide thanks to the Florida Red Tide Mitigation & Technology Development Initiative, a partnership between Mote Marine Laboratory and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

After red tide fouled beaches along seven Florida counties in 2018 — aggravating health problems and costing local communities millions of dollars — then-Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency and pledged state resources to assist in dealing with the noxious bloom.

It was one of the worst blooms in recent years.

A year later, Scott’s successor, Gov. Ron DeSantis, signed the five-year initiative that started Jan. 15, 2021, and concludes in 2025.

To date, scientists have examined over 200 chemicals and compounds and have completed or have underway more than 30 projects, according to Mote’s annual report released in January.

But don’t look for them to banish red tide from the earth. It’s been around for centuries.

What is Mote’s red tide research?

Monitoring red tide: Mote’s Beach Conditions Reporting System keeps track of red tide impacts on 56 beaches in Florida, Alabama and South Carolina.

Red tide mitigation: Scientists have tested 200 different chemical compounds, with “at least a dozen of promising candidates for fighting red tide impacts.”

Aerial observation: Researchers used robotic gliders to survey conditions before and after Hurricane Ian.

Less coughing: A preliminary study observed a 99% decrease in respiratory irritation from red tide by adding colored organic material to red tide cultures in the lab.

Safer seafood: Mote is working with shellfish producers in the Gulf of Mexico on a “wet-storage” solution that eliminates red tide toxins.

Water samples: Mote collected and analyzed 6,577 water samples to study how red tide is fueled by nutrients and climate change.

Researchers confident in red tide solutions

Kevin Claridge, vice president of sponsored research and coastal policy at Mote, likens red tide to effects from other naturally occurring phenomena in Florida that people have learned to mitigate and live with, such as mosquitoes, heat and hurricanes.

He predicts there will be new technologies developed that will help Florida cope with red tide as well.

“I am 100% certain we will have some solutions,” Claridge said this week at Mote’s inland research facility off Fruitville Road, about 15 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.

“Initiative funding has allowed Mote to continue to expand the vital testing of mitigation products to find those that kill the algae, minimize the impact of the Karenia brevis toxin and have no further human health or ecological harm,” the report says.

“While most of these projects focused on natural, man-made and technological mitigation techniques, a few are also dedicated to the development of red tide public communication and monitoring technologies specifically aimed at decreasing impacts of red tide,” the report says.

In addition to investigating six algicidal compounds that can be used to kill Karenia brevis, scientists are also looking at various water treatment processes, clay combined with an algaecide compound and more.

In China and Korea, finely crumbled clay has been effectively used to control or mitigate algal blooms in aquaculture.

Mote is using a tiered research approach, taking it from the lab, then eventually to near shore and offshore and finally to commercialization where the technology can be used by state and local agencies and contractors.

Among the scientists at Mote Marine this week was Jamie Lead, a professor in the Arnold School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina.

Lead is interested in using electromagnets to attract nanoparticles in the water which contain naturally occurring iron oxide. The electromagnets attract the nanoparticles and the offending algae bloom and return the purified water to the waterway from whence it came.

For a deeper dive into the research initiative, visit the Mote Marine web page.

Where to check on red tide

Mote Marine Laboratory’s Beach Conditions Report is continually working to improve its red tide web page, visitbeaches.org, where the public can check for local problems and conditions.

Beachgoers can also check:

▪ The NOAA Red Tide Respiratory Forecast at habforecast.gcoos.org.

▪ The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at myfwc.com/research/redtide/statewide.

▪ University of South Florida’s Red Tide Prediction and Tracking at ocgweb.marine.usf.edu/hab_tracking.