Why Florida’s red tide is killing fish, manatees, and turtles

Where the red tide is, and why it’s so dangerous for marine life.

The whale shark is the largest fish in the world. It can grow to 40 feet in length and weigh tens of thousands of pounds. In July, a 26-foot whale shark was found dead on Sanibel Island, on Florida’s southwestern Gulf Coast, its body riddled with the neurotoxin produced by tiny algae in the sea.

Marine scientists don’t know for sure how it died, but they suspect the Karenia brevis algae — a single-celled organism that’s currently in a massive bloom cycle, called a red tide.

https://www.vox.com/energy-and-envir...bel-okeechobee