According to interim Town Manager Keith Wilkins, 13 tons of dead fish have been removed from Fort Myers Beach in one week. The fish are being killed off by a wave of Red Tide in the area and there’s no indication when it will end.
The town’s public works staff deposits the dead fish in dumpsters behind the former Town Hall building. The town is trying to keep the smell of dead fish as far away as possible from big crowds of people, although the people in the neighborhood behind the old town hall location cannot be too happy with the odor. The dead fish are eventually hauled off to a landfill, according to Wilkins.
The Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) received 5 birds with toxicosis symptoms from red tide or blue-green algae from 2/21/23 – 2/27/23.
The Florida Department of Health in Lee County has issued health alerts for the presence of a red tide bloom. An alert level of red tide was found near Lynn Hall Park (Fort Myers Beach), Gasparilla Island State Park (Boca Grande Pass), Turner Beach (Captiva), Blind Pass Beach (Sanibel) and Lighthouse Beach (Sanibel). This is in response to water samples taken on February 13, 14, and 15, 2023.
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