Life in the Gulf dieing?

[cdiver2]

Gulf of Mexico mystery
Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Scientists are worried Siratti Sam could also become a casualty.
About 20 dead sea turtles have washed ashore in Pinellas County in the past three days, an extremely high number that has doctors and scientists puzzled.

One of the two survivors that's being kept at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium is a large, loggerhead turtle named Siratti Sam.

"I still don't know if he'll make it," said Dr. Janine Cianciolo. "It's little movements. Yesterday, he wasn't moving at all. [He's] still not in water because he's not keeping his head up for long enough periods of time."

It's not clear why the various kinds of sea turtles are washing ashore.

"It may or may not be associated with red tide," said Cianciolo. "They tend to show symptoms of what's a red tide intoxication, but you have to take a lot of samples and they must go through testing to actually determine that."

Dive instructor Michael Miller took underwater video to try to figure out the mystery.

"Right now, anywhere we go from shore to 20 miles offshore, from Sarasota to Tarpon Springs, we can't find a single creature alive on the bottom right now," said Miller.

Miller says he's never seen such death and devastation under water in his 20 years of diving.

"All the coral, all the sponges, all the crabs, not a single living thing, all the star fish, the brittle stars, everything's dead," said Miller.
Click here for an enlarged image of more dead sea life.


The sea turtles that died are being preserved with ice at the aquarium, where a necropsy will be performed in hopes it will provide some clues as to what's lurking in the waters of the gulf.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission scientists will ultimately decide whether red tide is causing the sea turtles to die. The results from the test could take anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks.

If you see a dead or injured sea turtle, call the 24-hour stranded sea turtle hotline at 727-441-1790. You'll be asked to leave a message with a phone number so rescuers can respond to the appropriate location.

 

[pipedope]

This sounds bad.

Do you have links to anymore information?

 

[cdiver2]

This sounds bad.

Do you have links to anymore information?

This just came on the puter from news channel 9

 

[CBulla]

Who wants to start a betting pool that it has to do with the extreme build-up of communities on the Gulf Coast of Florida and the storm water run off taking enormous amounts of fertilizers (originally intended to make many lawns and golf courses green) with it right out into the Gulf to feed the red algae and other life choking organizms?

 

[Capt.Gene]

Who wants to start a betting pool that it has to do with the extreme build-up of communities on the Gulf Coast of Florida and the storm water run off taking enormous amounts of fertilizers (originally intended to make many lawns and golf courses green) with it right out into the Gulf to feed the red algae and other life choking organizms?

It's more sinister than that. Ever keep an aquarium? What happens when the ph gets even slightly off? Everything dies.
I have no idea how many millions of gallons of acid have been pumped off barges into coastal waters. But wherever local currents take this lethal chemical douche, everything dies. Invertabrates, fish, even colonial coral colonys such as we have here.
Not a word from anyone complicent in allowing this. Makes me sick.

 

[cdiver2]

Turtle troubles
Thursday, August 11, 2005

The surviving turtles will need lots of treatment.
Authorities say three more dead sea turtles have washed ashore in Pinellas County, bringing the total in the past couple of days to 23.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission scientists are trying to determine whether red tide is causing the turtles to die. The turtles are being preserved with ice at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium until a necropsy can be done to try to get to figure out the problem.

Scientists are also trying to treat five injured turtles that washed ashore alive

 

[cdiver2]

Home : Features : Harmful Algal Bloom Events—Current Status : Other Florida HAB Events


Offshore Red Tide-Associated Mortalities and FWRI Event Response (Updated August 10, 2005)
During the first week of August 2005, FWRI received reports of mass mortalities of fish and other animals inhabiting reefs. The reports extend from New Port Richey to Sarasota. FWRI is investigating these reports.
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During the first week of August 2005, FWRI received reports from diving and fishing charter businesses of mass mortalities of fish and other animals inhabiting reefs. Reports also mentioned an odor like rotten eggs and divers’ silver jewelry and coins turning black. These reports spanned a geographical area extending from New Port Richey south to Sarasota and from approximately 3 to 23 miles offshore. It is estimated that bottom communities within an approximate area of 5,600 km2 have potentially been affected. Organisms affected include dead fish present on the bottom (ranging from baitfish to goliath grouper) as well as dead sponges, corals, worms, mollusks, crabs, sea urchins, starfish, and sea turtles. Bottom visibility was also reported as being significantly reduced. Large fishing boats have also reported severe declines in catches the previous week.

Although these mortalities are linked to the persistent red tide of the toxic dinoflagellate Karenia brevis off the central west Florida shelf (Florida Red Tide Current Status), FWRI is investigating the potential for secondary effects due to the presence of toxins, hypoxia (low dissolved oxygen), and/or anoxia (no dissolved oxygen). We are examining data from our ongoing monitoring program of the existing red tide. FWC divers were transported offshore August 6, 7, and 8 by volunteer dive and fishing charter businesses (Narcossis, Reef Tours, and Wolfmouth Charters) and by Gulfstream Gas Corporation. Water, sediment, and biological samples were collected for testing and to document the status of both the red tide and resident biota. Additional samples were collected by Tanks-a-Lot. Red tide and bottom sampling protocols will be incorporated into other existing state, federal, and private studies to maximize sampling efforts for offshore locations. Additionally, the NOAA/NOS/NCCOS/CSCOR HAB (Harmful Algal Bloom) Event Response Program is providing funding for a 3-day research cruise (August 10, 11, and 12) to map the areal extent of the bloom and any resultant low-oxygen regions and to conduct diving operations. A large-scale assessment of the potential biological and economic impacts of this red tide on the offshore reef communities would require significant additional funding and logistical support.

The following map depicts the geographical extent of the reports, confirmation of bottom mortalities, red tide monitoring transects, and other observations. The map will be updated with new observations and sampling efforts as they become available. Preliminary results provided through the volunteer effort show that water samples from 4, 9.5, and 12 miles offshore, west of Clearwater, had low Karenia concentrations in surface samples at 4 miles and medium Karenia concentrations at 9.5 and 12 miles. Since no Karenia was detected in bottom samples at all three locations, the bottom mortalities could be attributable to secondary effects of red tide (red tide toxins, low dissolved oxygen, or no dissolved oxygen). Sediments are currently being tested for toxins. During anoxic (no dissolved oxygen) conditions, hydrogen sulfide is produced by bacteria, resulting in a rotten egg smell. The hydrogen sulfide would cause silver jewelry/coins to tarnish. On Monday, August 8, FWC divers reported no evidence of bottom mortalities in 77- to 80-foot depths (approximately 19 miles offshore of Clearwater) and observed healthy sponges, octocorals, stony corals, gag groupers, barracuda, and bar jacks. Inshore (50-foot depths and less), however, divers’ observations confirmed the mass mortality reports.





In the summer of 1971, a red tide caused mass mortalities of reef inhabitants over 1,536 km2 of the west Florida shelf in the same general area as the current red tide. Dr. Gregory Smith (of what is now the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida) concluded that extensive die-offs caused by K. brevis red tides are possible on reefs less than 130 feet in depth. Subsequently, Dr. Smith reported that recolonization of reef fishes was seemingly complete 18–24 months after the red tide and after 5 years the fish species composition was basically identical to that prior to the red tide. It was further proposed that widely fluctuating sea temperatures, turbidity, red tides, and temporary anoxia associated with certain blooms are among the primary factors regulating structure of fish populations in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The recovery of other reef-inhabiting species is less well-documented. Further information on the impacts and recovery of the organisms in this central west Florida shelf region after the 1971 red tide event can be found in the following references:

 

[cdiver2]

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS


Various studies and government reports note that 225 Texas acres of topsoil wash into the Gulf each year. Louisiana is similarly plagued, losing more than fifty square miles of topsoil a year to erosion. (7)

The United States Army Corps of Engineers estimates that 60 percent of the Texas shore is eroding, 33 percent stable, and 7 percent advancing. (7)


More than 500 tons of trash washes ashore each year along the Texas coast alone. (7)


Gulf coast states (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas) make up four of the top five states responsible for the greatest surface water discharge of toxic chemicals. (6)


Ninety three percent of the catch in the north central Gulf is wasted bycatch. (6)


As of 1992, nearly 90% of Florida’s approximately 460,000 acres of mangroves occur in the four southernmost counties, and more than 20,000 acres have already been destroyed. (3)


Each year 40 to 60 square miles of Louisiana’s wetlands disappear due to natural and human induced impacts. (3)


Estimates by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers say that by 2040 an area larger than Rhode Island will have disappeared from Louisiana’s coastal margin. (3)


ARTIFICIAL REEFS

Florida, which leads the Nation in total number of artificial reefs with more than 300, has reefs built of everything from ships and airplanes to bridge rubble and buses. (1)


By 1994, around 60 petroleum structures have been converted to permanent reefs in the Gulf of Mexico. An estimated five platforms in Florida, 19 platforms in Texas, three platforms in Alabama and 36 platforms in Louisiana have been donated on behalf of fishery enhancement. (1)


Keeping Texas beaches clean and safe is an economic as well as environmental priority. Coastal tourism, a $7 billion industry, and commercial fishing, a $1.9 billion business, demand clean beaches and a healthy gulf to thrive. (5)

 

[cdiver2]

If you would like to help there is a phone number at the bottom



Sea turtles in peril
Sunday, August 14, 2005

The sea turtles are being kept cool to help nurse them back to health.

Rescue teams are working overtime in Pinellas County this weekend after dozens of dead and dying sea turtles washed ashore this past week.

Veterinarians at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium are working on the sea animals, while scientists are working to find out why this is happening.

The sick turtles have eye lesions and all are suffering from neurological problems. Their shells are deteriorating, the majority so weak they can't lift their head above water to breath.

Veterinarians at the aquarium have been working around the clock, taking blood tests and keeping the sea turtles covered with wet towels to keep them cool and hydrated.

The hallways are lined with sick turtles, more turtles being cared for at one time than most rescuers see in a year.

It's a daunting task for volunteers, who have seen 37 turtles rescued with 30 dying before anyone could help them.

"Seeing them in their natural environment is wonderful. Seeing them the way they are now is shocking,'' said Martin Smith, vice president of the Bellview Biltmore and an avid scuba diver.

Smith and Biltmore employees have been volunteering at the aquarium to give staff a break after a long seven days of rescues.

The donations keep coming in, which they must in order for the turtles to survive. It will take at least $5,000 dollars each to rehabilitate and release the rescued turtles who survive. It could take as long as two months to nurse them back to health. Medicine, supplies and squid to feed them are among the expenses.

Red tide is suspected in the current pattern of sea turtle deaths across Pinellas County. The Fish and Wildlife Research (FWC) Institute said red tide remains in bloom in the Bay area. Scientists said the bloom extends from Honeymoon Island in Pinellas County all the way down to Redfish Pass in Lee County.

Numerous fish kills are being reported from Hernando to Lee County. A sulfur smell is also reported at Egmont Key in Manatee County.

To make a donation call (727) 441-1700, ext. 222. To report stranded turtles the extension is 234.