Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Wondering about the Red Tide.

I have known about the Red Tide for a long time but up until yesterday on the news I learned it was more dangerous than I thought. OH I knew that it killed fish and that it was possible to get a toxic poisoning from sea food contaminated with it, but I didn’t know that it caused breathing problems from airborne contaminants. It can be particularly dangerous to people with breathing problems like asthma or COPD. Dang, I leaned something new yesterday! Of course, I bet all of you out there knew all about the breathing problems that it caused, right?



It is funny; I was planning on writing about this subject after I heard of it on the news. Then I got an email containing a link of some video made by a fisherman on the Texas coast. It showed a lot dead fish on the beach, all kinds and all sizes. The news also said that this was the worst Red Tide for many years. It is a shame when Nature attacks herself, but the environment was right for this disaster to happen and that could have been caused by man. Who knows, I sure don’t.


Texas has all but dried up and blown away and what didn’t, burned. Now, the coast is messed up. Dang, is there anywhere in Texas you can go and not see death and dying?


You all try to have a good day now, you hear?

6 comments:

  1. I used to hate it when I lived near the coast and that stuff came in. I hung out at Galveston on the weekends, but would never go in the water while that stuff was there.

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  2. Shoot I remember the Red tide and fish kills when I lived down in the Seabook area. We could get off shore far enough to get past it. But you sure had to be careful what you ate at the local restaurants back then. I don't remember it ever making it all the way to the upper reaches of Galveston Bay but it may have.

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  3. Every summer on the west coast when I lived there. It had something to do with the water getting too warm. That water was never warm to me.

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  4. I could never live there, and now since my niece no longer lives there, won't be going to visit either. Had to get back to clean air here in the Hill Country. It has to be hard on YOU, with your breathing problems.

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  5. Once in a while it blooms of the New England coast, putting a halt to the clamming. I've heard of it getting bad enough in FL for air quality warnings to be issued. My dad once lived right on the coast and it was occasionally a problem.

    Did not know it also afflicted TX. Then again, I guess just about everything does these days.

    I'm thinking about sailing the TX 200 in June. Hope things are better by then.

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  6. David, Yep, I have seen the fish kill it can do. I just didn’t know that it released bad stuff in the air.

    Ben, This has just not been a good year for Texas.

    Oldfool, the Pacific warm? Don’t believe that, of course it may have been a relative statement. It may have been just a little warmer than freezing your butt off.

    Trouble, I don’t have a breathing problem, just the sleep apnea at night. Then I just quit breathing for a spell (grin).

    6bears, June is a long way off. Yes, I don’t think any place is immune to it except the Arctic and Antarctic. BTW is the TX 200 a boat race and if so, where is it held?

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