Different type of blue-green algae reeks along Lemon Bay shore

Disgusting brown gunk lining the shore at a popular spot in Charlotte County as it is driving people away from the water. State environmental officials tested the weird goop over the weekend.

You can smell it before you see it.

Kim Preedom caught wind of rotten-like stench, stretching several miles along the Lemon Bay shore.

“I noticed it as we drove up,” Preedom said. “It smells like decaying vegetation.”

An underwater view of the gunk, which the Department of Environmental Protection identified as Lyngbya wollei, a blue-green algae, shows it is different than the type found in Lake Okeechobee.

“It blows all of this sludge type stuff from the bay onto the beaches,” said Byron Reber, a visitor to Lemon Bay Sunrise Park. “I would certainly not go into the water.”

The Florida Department of Health said that is a good idea because the cyanobacteria can cause skin and respiratory irritation. It can also be dangerous if pets drink the water.

“It just stops us from coming down,” said Joe Lacava, a visitor, “and enjoying the beach and the water.”

Byron Reber said he sees less of the clumped up algae along the shoreline since he took a photo earlier this week of it.

‘Tthe beaches were completely covered with inches thick of this,” Reber said.

But some argue, they are eager to see the future after last year’s lengthy algae bloom plagued Southwest Florida.

“I don’t expect any action soon, if ever,” Lacava said.