PANAMA CITY BEACH — The red menace abounds.
But for the moment, the strain of Karenia brevis algae associated with Florida’s “red tide” has not crept west of shorelines along Taylor County.
Migration of the red tide, a slow-moving glob of toxic algae, begins each year with blooms originating from the northeast Gulf of Mexico along Florida’s coast. In high concentrations the algae can kill all sorts of animal life, ranging from birds to fish to porpoises — and can cause respiratory irritation to inland humans — so during the red tide season, animal advocates, scientists and fishers use a variety of technology to keep a keen eye on the menace’s activities.
Satellite images from the Optical Oceanography Lab at the University of South Florida reveal an offshore surface bloom extending between Taylor and Pinellas counties, about 5 to 35 miles offshore between southern Taylor and northern Levy counties and 10 to 20 miles offshore southern Levy to Pinellas counties.
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This year no inshore cases of red tide have been reported.
Since 1957, some 27 red tides have occurred in waters off the Big Bend and Panhandle. This year the red menace has yet to make its presence felt west of Taylor County, but even career experts will not speculate on the Gulf’s behavior beyond three days.
“Inclement weather and just the physics of the ocean can cause a sudden shift in Gulf currents,” said FWC spokesman Brandon Basino. “But we haven’t detected any red tide west of Taylor County.”
“Digital drifters” give the FWC a sense of shifting currents or tide swells, Basino said. Currently the digital drifters indicate that if the sudden shift drew the red tide toward Bay County, the currents would push the algae southwest into the Gulf.
Red tide events are unusual along the Panhandle and last stretched far enough west to reach Bay County in 2007, causing large amounts of fish kills.
A related event of another toxic algae was blamed for a large amounts ofdolphin deaths near St. Joseph Bay in March 2004. By the end of that April, dolphin mortalities totaled 107. A limited number of dead fish and horseshoe crabs also were reported.