Florida’s red tide, which was declared an emergency by Gov. Rick Scott on Monday, has been devastating marine life on Florida’s Gulf Coast this summer. Beaches have been littered with dead sea life as a result of the naturally occurring toxic algae.
“A red tide, or harmful algal bloom, is a higher-than-normal concentration of a microscopic alga (plantlike organism),” explains the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, in a statement. “In Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, the species that causes most red tides is Karenia brevis, often abbreviated as K. brevis. To distinguish K. brevis blooms from red tides caused by other species of algae, researchers in Florida call the former the ‘Florida red tide’.” --
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