The “Sunshine State of Emergency”
Florida is supposed to be that state in the U.S. everyone wants to visit, right? If you’re here to visit, it’s imminent to attend one of the many beaches running either coasts of the state. Surrounded completely by water, you’ll be sure to find a patch of sand to get that crisp tan you’ve always wanted while here. But you should choose the beaches you visit wisely. If you are planning to make a visit to any South Florida beach right now, it is always mindful to look up information on what you’ll be getting yourself into. Multiple problems could arise if you’re unfamiliar with the area. It’s best to touch base with the surroundings first. For example, in recent years the Southern most parts of Florida have been experiencing some of worst water conditions the state has ever seen. The issue of the Lake Okeechobee water releasing it’s toxic over fill directly through our water ways and into our Gulf has proven to be a disaster and is now causing long-term effects to take over the health of our beloved ecosystems. Dead animal life, murky water, and the smell of red tide is what to look forward to when visiting these days. What do you expect when you mix rain water with salt water? How is one supposed to get the full Floridian experience if this doesn’t clear up? It won’t be the same and the state government has yet to do anything differently in the last three years to change people’s minds about going to the beach. Going is optional but is it safe? That’s a different story.

The idea behind going to Florida to visit the beach, taking a dive in the water or even going fishing is basically out of the question at this point. If you’ve visited Southwest Florida’s beaches anytime in the last three months, you’ll probably have noticed what’s called ‘Red Tide’. This is an annual algae bloom that occurs and causes wildlife to die and humans to suffer as well. Multiple sea turtles, dolphins, fish, and even people are prone to disease and even death from such exposure to the toxic nature of this issue. This problem has since worsened over the years due to the additional Lake Okeechobee releasing at the same time as the bloom. Governor Rick Scott has even declared a state of emergency in seven South coastal counties according to (The Washington Post.)

Other issues have since risen in correlation with water contaminations from Lake Okeechobee and red tide, such as local businesses shutting down for the duration because of lack of clientele in the area. What do you know — people care enough about their health to stay away from the water? For the sake of our water and health of our environment and businesses, it’s time words be put into actions for the betterment of our waters, beaches, and tourism. Help is needed by not only the state government, but everyone can do part by just staying away from the water for now.


Narrative…….
The purpose of my argument in the case of Florida’s biggest freshwater lake continuously dumping toxic algae filled water into our Gulf of Mexico, is to hopefully gain the attention of anyone looking to visit down South, or even those native to the area. These intentional spills are causing mass amounts of dead marine life and humans to get sick. Our beaches being exposed to such constant toxicity has contributed greatly to the years aggressive ‘red tide’ bloom that comes around annually and is likely to continue striking our coast for the months to come. Not having clean water will play a role in the death of many animals such as fish, dolphins, and even sea turtles if the amounts of algae do not begin to subside. As a fellow Southwest Florida native myself, my context of the argument is no longer dumping Lake Okeechobee’s contaminated water into the Gulf anymore.
In my essay, I appeal to a Newsweek article that talks about the water not clearing up until the winter time when the temperatures begin to drop. Another way would be for a hurricane to tumble through and mix the water around to begin a new cycle of algae growth. You can see the connection between red tide and Lake Okeechobee when conducting further research and notice both play a big role in the destruction of our ecosystem and the cause of multiple fatalities in animals, fish, and people to feel fatigue and ill. There has never been a worst time to go fishing or even swimming in our gulf and the only way to gain improvement in the situation is to clean up the mess that has developed due to an original problem that we caused.
I employ the rhetorical strategy of “keep the scene clean” to raise awareness on what others can begin to do to make sure they do their own part when coming to Florida beaches for a visit. Fort Myers Beach has done many clean-ups already where locals and officials have swept up the entire coasts dead fish and algae wash up. If state officials won’t to do anything about the Lake Okeechobee releases to ensure the quality of our ecosystems, then at least we the people can take a stand in our own way, clean up after ourselves, and visit at a more appropriate time. Things will only be back on course once we all go along.