FORT MYERS – Hurricane Ian not only ravaged southwest Florida on land but was harmful underwater as effectively. It ruined guy-created reefs and brought along pink tide, the dangerous algae blooms that get rid of fish and birds, in accordance to maritime scientists who returned final 7 days from a six-day cruise structured by the Florida Institute of Oceanography.
Scientists who applied the cruise to examine marine lifestyle in the Gulf of Mexico next the hurricane say it remaining in its wake purple tide and wrecked artificial reefs from as significantly absent as 30 miles from the coast of southwest Florida.
“The one-time vivid reefs are now underwater catastrophe sites them selves,” claimed Calli Johnson, security dive officer for the exploration cruise. “Where by there applied to be a full ecosystem, there are now only fish that were being in a position to return right after swimming away.”
Right before the Class 4 storm built landfall a month ago, southwest Florida had a status for getting a single of the finest saltwater fishing places in the U.S. Saltwater and freshwater fishing in Florida has an economic influence of around $13.8 billion, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Fee.
“Time will tell how this has an effect on our larger economy, mainly because modifications in the fishing marketplace and tourism will come from variations in our underwater world,” Johnson said.
The marine scientists on the cruise discovered substantial counts of the the natural way-occurring algae that leads to red tide offshore Punta Gorda, Boca Grande and southwest of Sanibel Island. It will be quite a few weeks before scientists can assess water samples that had been collected to figure out the threat to sea daily life off the Florida coastline.
The red tide outbreak also is threatening manatees off Sarasota and Charlotte counties that rely on seagrass for food items, in accordance to the Ocean Conservancy.
“Florida is at a crossroads, with a file variety of manatees dying,” said J.P. Brooker, director of Florida conservation for the Ocean Conservancy. “We ought to maintain this issue at the forefront, so leaders statewide will devote in solutions to enhance water quality-defending pure habitats to help save our beloved manatees.”
By mid-October, there have been 719 manatee fatalities recorded by Florida wildlife officers. There ended up 982 manatee deaths very last calendar year.
