Red Tide is Killing Marine Animals in Record Numbers
Few people are thinking of animals hundreds of miles away as they’re working in their gardens or on their lawns. But the fertilizers and pesticides they apply to their plants or turf could end up in streams, rivers, and eventually the ocean. The sudden influx of artificial nutrients from their fertilizers can cause unnatural growth of algae in the waterways, including Karenia brevis, or red tide.
Any bloom of algae can have harmful impacts on wildlife. Once the nutrients have been consumed by the algae it dies, and when it decomposes it sucks the oxygen out of the water, leaving huge dead zones where little can live. One such dead zone, off the Gulf Coast, is the size of New Jersey.
Blooms of red tide in particular though, can be particularly devastating for aquatic animals. Red tide produces a kind of toxin known as brevetoxin which is released into the water during a red tide bloom. The toxins can accumulate in zooplankton, bivalves like oysters and clams, and other filter feeders. These are then eaten by bigger fish and marine mammals. As is the case with many toxins, brevetoxins can accumulate through the food chain. When a big fish eats 10 small fish that all have low levels of brevetoxins, the big fish will accumulate all 10 quantities of toxins. This can lead to a dangerous situation for fish and animals higher up on the food chain like dolphins.
The most widespread effects of brevetoxins are generally seen in fish. Large-scale die offs of fish from red tide have been observed since 1844, though the cause wasn’t discovered till 1946. Many fish die immediately when exposed to brevetoxins, though it can also result from long term exposure. Signs a fish has been exposed to toxins from red tide include violent twisting and corkscrew swimming, pectoral fin paralysis, loss of equilibrium, and convulsions. In the end fish die of brevetoxin exposure because their gills stop functioning and they can’t breathe.
So far in 2018 hundreds of sea turtles have died from red tide and countless more have washed up disoriented and been stranded on beaches. Signs that a sea turtle has been poisoned from red tide include swimming in circles, lack of coordination, head bobbing, twitching and jerky body movements. Unlike fish, if a sea turtle that has been exposed to brevetoxins and is showing these symptoms is saved in time, they can be treated and ultimately rehabbed, though it can take up to 50 days.
Brevetoxins can also be deadly for larger marine mammals like dolphins and manatees. Dolphins, which can consume large quantities of contaminated fish, are particularly susceptible to red tide blooms. In 1988 over 740 bottlenose dolphins were found dead from red tide. Even manatees, which only eat plants, can get sick when seagrasses are coated with red tide algae.
Knowing all this, and seeing one of the largest and longest lasting red tide blooms in history devastate fisheries and wildlife along the Florida coast this year, we all have a responsibility to look at hw the products we use on our lawns and gardens are contributing. Rather than over-applying synthetic fertilizers, products like SmartNute can help reduce the amount of fertilizer needed, and in turn the amount that can run off into our waterways by over 80%. Just think how many marine animals that could save!
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