Sanibel works to keep beaches clear of dead fish from red tide

One of the beaches where crews saw the most dead sea life wash in today was Blind Pass Beach on Sanibel Island.

Visitor Daniel Middenorf was surprised at what he saw, “I saw dolphins right at the beach when I was here 20 years ago and you don’t see a living animal here besides from us.”

The dead fish on the beaches of Sanibel are from a massive red tide fish kill that has kept city clean up crews busy for over ten days.

Middenorf is staying here with his two kids from Germany and he tells WINK News red tide has ruined their trip, “I said to them it’s one of the most beautiful islands in the world so their expectations were rather high and up to now I didn’t fulfill with that or better said… Sanibel island didn’t fulfill.”

Out of the seven beaches tested Wednesday, only two were clear of red tide. Some areas are looking cleaner, but the stench of dead fish is still in the air.

Crews have boats cleaning canals, and now the city is working two shifts of beach clean up crews per day in order to keep up with the conditions.

The city of Sanibel still has a ways to go before the beaches appear normal. They see the greatest amounts of dead sea life when the tide is low, therefore they’re keeping an eye on the tide, winds and currents to keep areas as clean as possible.