Red Tide in Charlotte Harbor, dead fish in canal

[Vectordirector]

Hi all,

All is not well in Charlotte Harbor this weekend.  I have about 40 dead mullet floating in my canal today, about double what was there yesterday.  The east wind is pushing them to the end of the canal and the tide doesn't seem to be pushing them back out.  Smells pretty bad and I"m keeping the doors and windows closed.  I can tell the water is nasty because my nose is clogged up and I feel kinda blah and low energy after going down to the dock to check the boat.

Curious as to what will happen.  Will they decompose here in the canal and really smell bad or will the tide eventually take them out when the wind shifts to the south later in the week?  This is the first time I've seen this in the 2 years I've been here. 

On a happier note, they are getting 3-5 inches of snow up in Chicago today.  It is 80 here.  So there's that.

Guess I'll just watch football.

Stay warm y'all.   

Vectordirector

[crazycarl]

hopefully you won't get too many more floaters your way.  after the bloating they should sink and the crabs will feast.

i just put our 19 in the indoor storage yesterday.  the snow started about 9am and it's going strong.  we have about 2" on the roads, and about 4" in the yard. 

c.c.

[Bob23]

Oooo..Snow!!! Send it my way!!!!! Love the stuff!!!

[Vectordirector]

I hate the solid precipitation, no matter what form, and there are many, and the cold.  23 years in Chicago will do that to you.  But the one month of summer they get, August, is quite nice.  The reports are that this year has been unusually warm there.  Not warm enough for me, but warmer. 

Snow is beautiful, until you have to drive in it, fly in it, or move it, then it is a pain.  It was also quite a nightmare to deal with a snowstorm when working air traffic into and out of O'hare and Midway.  I don't miss it at all! 

Those of you who love the stuff, and my wife is one of them, have fun and stay safe.  And warm, always warm.

Vectordirector

[brackish]

I've experienced many of them and I think Carl is right, they will eventually sink or the wind/tide will carry them out.  Most that I've experienced causes them to wash up on the beach, and that is a bigger problem.  The city of Mexico Beach uses sand rakes and loaders to gather them up and take them to the landfill.

The red tide is also in the air and that is what you are experiencing with the nasal issues.  While it is there it causes an irritation to the throat and nasal passages.  It has nothing to do with the decomposing fish and it is not permanently harmful but certainly a temporary irritation. 

October two years ago we went to Mexico Beach and all four of us couldn't figure out why our throats were scratchy at the same time.  Turns out they were having a red tide but no fish were washing up because of the wind direction.  Good to know we thought we were all coming down with something simultaneously.