Dead fish wash ashore during red tide on Sanibel

SANIBEL ISLAND, Fla.- Hundreds, if not thousands of fish have washed ashore on Gulfside Beach on Sanibel Island during a red tide.

Florida Fish and Wildlife officers say the fish kill is caused by red tide. The toxic bloom kills fish and causes coughing, sneezing and other respiratory problems for people, every year.

Beachgoers looking to enjoy a nice night on the sand on Wednesday, were surprised at what they found.

“We can’t see the water, see the color but we did see some smaller dead fish on the beach and that’s something I usually don’t see here,” said Erin Neitzrlt.

Wildlife officers released a new map which shows red tide blooms off the Southwest Florida coast.
The white, yellow, and orange dots off Charlotte, Lee, and Collier Counties represent low to medium red tide levels.

Early Thursday morning, city crews were out with rakes and buckets cleaning up the dead fish.