The media has had a field day with the state of Florida. If it’s not the hurricanes than its shark attacks (extraordinarily rare), alligator attacks (extraordinarily rare) and in most recent times its Red Tide, which really does not provide a problem most of the time.
This past year red tide has affected the coastal waters on the west, east and panhandle region of Florida. The scientists continue to say it’s a naturally occurring event and it’s been on record back to near biblical times. The difference in modern times is that extra nutrients from run-off and other sources created by man feed the red tide and make the problem worse.
Red tide does not live in fresh water. It needs a very salty environment to survive and mainly develops in the Gulf of Mexico and can spread to the beach areas. In contrast to that Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte reside on the beautiful Charlotte Harbor. Red tide is very rare in the harbor and largely non-existent! Red tide is largely non-existent in the canal systems where we live the waterfront dream! Thank goodness!
Here are the basic reasons why red tide is not an issue to our waterfront lifestyle in these fine communities. First, the Peace River and Myakka River contribute a huge amount of freshwater to Charlotte Harbor. This in itself pretty much keeps us free of red tide. Add to that there are many creeks and rivers such as Alligator Creek and countless others that feed freshwater into the harbor. The harbor is brackish and depending on the amount of rain it can have low salinity at times and in a drought higher salinity of course. With two very large river systems feeding the harbor with current flows heading south, we do not suffer from red tide. We do not smell foul air either.
My house is 1000 feet from the edge of the harbor and there has never been red tide, a fish kill or air problems in 17 years of living here. What a blessing for Punta Gorda and Port Charlotte to not suffer the issues experienced by beach side communities. Granted we are bummed out when the beaches are messed up but it is normally very short lived and until this year very rare.
Scientists have speculated that the Mississippi River may have contributed to the west coast issue this year as some rare steering currents in the gulf channeled water from the Mississippi river basin sending that run-off in our direction. There was also talk of sand mist from the Saudi deserts having an effect. I have a hard time swallowing that one.
At the end of the day, the harbor has had remarkable fishing and crabbing this summer. Plenty of dolphins frolicking, sea turtles and you name it. The tarpon have been around and I have landed tarpon to 160 pounds in the middle of the harbor when the media was saying all the fish are dead.
The real estate market was very busy this summer and our town did not miss a beat because of the red tide news. Contrary to that the business’s on the beach suffered but as of this writing red tide is no longer an issue.
I expect amazing clean, turquoise blue water on the beaches in the months ahead and am looking forward to swimming and boating the beautiful gulf. Nature has a way of fixing things and the media will have to find something else to focus on.
Algae is not and never has been an issue in Charlotte Harbor. Algae is an issue in Cape Coral relating to water releases from Lake Okeechobee that are contaminated and create hideous bright green algae blooms that enters the Calossahatchee River and then into the canal systems. It is a real problem for the beaches south of there as well. Fortunately, Charlotte Harbor is to the north of this problem and currents in the harbor/rivers and the flow from Boca Grande Pass keep us isolated from this issue.
