Red tide concentrations increase along SWFL coast

Reporter: Gina Tomlinson Writer: Jack Lowenstein
Published: Updated:
Red tide map as of 5:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, 2019. Credit: WINK News.

The WINK News Weather Authority is tracking higher concentrations of red tide along the Coast of Southwest Florida Friday.

That red tide isn’t going to help businesses along the beach this weekend, as a lot of dead fish are washing up on shore.

“I have asthma, and I heard that red tide is really bad for people that have asthma,” visitor Edward Minton. 

Minton is visiting Sanibel Island with his family this weekend, where some of the highest concentrations of red tide are recorded in the latest map.

“It was hard for me to breathe, and my nose was very stuffy,” Minton said. “And I was coughing.”

And visitors are noticing the fish kills populating along beaches in Southwest Florida.

“What I noticed is I saw that I saw some fish about this way that were dead and just floating,” visitor Dimitry Komarov said.   

Red tide map as of 5:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, 2019. Credit: WINK News.

Local Mark Salvo has seen the fish kills on the beaches but said he has seen much worse.

“A few dead fish but not a lot, nothing big, all just little dudes,” Salvo said. “Nothing like last year. Last year was absolutely brutal. This is not bad at all.”

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