Schmid’s project is in collaboration with researchers at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, which is also engaged in another study on the impacts of red tide toxins on sea birds and other marine animals.
The species of algae most commonly responsible for red tide outbreaks in Southwest Florida is called Karenia brevis. The algae release brevetoxins which can injure or kill wildlife when ingested or inhaled. The research, led by veterinarian and adjunct scientist with Mote, Deborah Fauquier shows that sea birds can clear the brevetoxins from their circulatory systems in about ten days, but that for sea turtles the process can take more than 50 days.
“For rehabilitation centers, knowing how long it takes the animals to clear the toxins is helpful because they can try and support them for that long, give them more food to try to flush the toxins out,” said Fauquier. “With the sea turtles, the toxin seems to go back into their bloodstream through the intestines so we’re actually looking at a drug that would bind the toxin in the intestines and they would be able to have it expelled in there feces and then they wouldn’t get re-intoxicated.”
Fauquier said until this red tide event, she hadn’t been able to conduct tests on the effectiveness of the drug.
Florida Fish and Wildlife researchers observing the current red tide outbreak say it is about 25 miles offshore and stretches at least 40 miles north to south.
“We’re getting multiple reports of fish kills along the beaches in the bloom areas from many different areas inside Collier and Lee Counties,” said Leanne Flewelling, a harmful algal bloom research scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. “Right now, they seem to be from southern Lee County all the way through Collier County and it probably could extend south of that.”
Red Tide Outbreak Prompts New Research
Written by John Davis-
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A large red tide bloom looming in the Gulf of Mexico offshore Lee and Collier Counties is giving scientists a chance to learn more about the centuries-old phenomenon.
While the cause of red tide outbreaks remains elusive, wildlife researchers are learning more about how the toxic algae blooms impact marine life.
Research manager Jeff Schmid with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida uses satellite technology to track endangered Kemps Ridley sea turtles.
“The primary objective of the tracking study was to investigate their seasonal movements,” said Schmid. “As water temperatures cool, the turtles will move to find warmer waters and that’s usually offshore or southward and this red tide outbreak that’s presented itself is giving us a unique opportunity to study how turtles behave during an ongoing event.”
Schmid says most of the turtles he’s tracking have remained within Pine Island Sound, but that one moved out into the bloom and is now believed to have died. READ MORE