Florida’s red tide shows signs of turning

The Saturday of Labor Day weekend in Siesta Key, just off Sara sotaon Flor ida’s Gulf Coast, was a scorcher, with bright blue skies offering the perfect send-off for summer. John Fabian, a charter boat captain, was ready for it, offering two-hour, $400 sightseeing tours of the Intracoastal Waterway, the aquatic freeway that runs parallel to the coast.

Fabian said he typically brings in $15,000 during Labor Day weekend with his tours, which books up with tourists and snowbirds weeks in advance. But this holiday weekend was differe nt.He’s had no calls, no bookings. This weekend, he had only one client: me.

“This is the worst I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Fabian said. “We normally get1 5 to 20 calls a day, and we normally send our clients out on water excursions with the stand-up paddle boards and inner tubes. But I’ve been canceling the trip. I don’t want to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes. I don’t want them jumping in the water and then leaving me a negative review.”

Although Labor Day week- end usually marks the last summer spike in tourism along this coast, an unusu- ally persistent red tide — the longest in the area since 2006 — has driven away would-be visitors, turning a survey of the Intracoastal Waterway, which would normally be buzzing with boats, into a quiet nature tour, despite bright blue skies and a cool breeze.

This year’s red tide, a harmful algae bloom, technically began last October, and has been unlike anything the locals here have ever seen. It’s left tons of dead fish floating at the surface of the waters, both along the shore in the Gulf of Mexico and also in the Intracoastal Waterway. Mammals — dolphins, sea turtles and manatees, some feeding on the sickened fish — have also fallen victim to the tide. From July 1to Aug.30, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported 48 bottlenose dolphin deaths in southwest Florida; the average for that time frame is eight.

Although no humans have been killed by the tide, local residents have felt its effects: red tide can cause respiratory inflammation and unpleasant itchy or burning skin reactions. A lifeguard at Siesta Key beach said he had used up all of his sick days and vacation days because of bronchitis that he is con- vinced was caused by the tide.

And then there’s the smell. “It was so bad, I can’t even tell you,” said Ali Fabian, John’s wife and first mate. “Imagine Tuna Helper gone bad. That’s exactly what it smelled like.”

As a result, although Siesta Key is regularly voted as one of the top beaches in the country, thanks to its wide white sands and clear waters, this Labor Da yw eekend, the crowd was patchy at best and populated mostly by international tourists. Though there weren’t any dead fish floating in it and it didn’t smell, the water looked like steeped black tea.

Ask any of the locals, and they’ll quickly tell you that red tides are perfectly normal around here. They have been occurring almost every year for generations, typically worsening in the springtime and then dissipating. But no one knows what exactly has caused this red tide to last so long and hit so hard.

There are positive signs for visitors. Dr .V ince Lovko, the plankton expert at Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, in Sarasota, pointed out that there are good resources available for visitors, including a website and smartphone app called Mote, where you can find out which beaches have been impacted and which are clear. “Even though one beach can be affected, a few beaches away you can find a better one,” he said. “And the ecosystem is pretty resilient. There is still a lot of life outthere.”

There is more good news: The tide appears to be subsiding. Although the waterways were clogged with dead fish during the first two weeks of August, by the end of the month, thanks in part to weather and in part to cleanup efforts, there weren’t many dead fish to be seen.

During the boat tour, Ali Fabian excitedly pointed out birds congregating on Sand Dollar Island. “That’s a great sign. They weren’t here just last week,” she said. And toward the end of the two-hour tour, an even better sign surfaced from the water: Two bottlenose dolphins appeared alongside the boat.

“It almost makes me want to c ry,” Ali Fabian said with a gasp. “I can’t even tell you how happy that makes me,” said John Fabian, as he recorded the dolphins’ splashes on his cellphone. “It means we’re on the comeback.”