Tourists from Toronto, Vermont and Germany alike Thursday morning stepped over piles of rotting fish to enjoy the waters of Sanibel Island.
Geraldine Christie and her husband, Sean, had traveled to Sanibel from Indianapolis. They got out of their car, and it hit them.
“I smelled something funky,” she said. “I figured it was the ocean.”
It was, kind of.
Red tide has caused thousands of dead fish to line the shores of Sanibel.
Fish kills can occur once levels reach 10,000 cells per liter or more. Counts of Sarasota have reached 1 million cells per liter or more in recent weeks, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission records. Red tide, caused by Karenia brevis, has been festering off Sarasota County for several weeks, and recent counts have shown low to moderate levels in Lee County waters.
Most tourists chock it up to the nature, but the smell and sight are unavoidable for those who shelled out the cash to come to sunny Florida in the winter.
Karen Laurance, 60, is visiting from Yorkshire, England.
She described the weather at home as abysmal, so the beach was perfect until she noticed the mounds of dead fish.
“There’s thousands of them,” she said. “It’s very sad.”
Ray Tiberia and Sara Caracciolo, both 34, were glad they had a flashlight Wednesday night. Otherwise, they would have stepped right into the “just piles and piles” of fish, she said.
Sporting a sunburn and a Bud Light on Thursday morning, Tiberia said the fish haven’t ruined their vacation from Albany, New York.
Still, Caracciolo admitted: “It smells a little bit.”
Gannett