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October 30, 2013 at 4:03 pm #868MikeKeymaster
http://www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/080505/ew11.htm?
date=080505&story=ew11.htmENGLEWOOD — A bizarre freeway of fish swimming by the thousands
along the shore of Englewood Beach Thursday morning left crowds of
beach-goers agog and marine biologists bewildered.“I’ve lived her for 10 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this.
It’s incredible,” said Bob Ricci of Englewood.Beach-goers reported that a wide variety of sea creatures came
swimming south in a narrow band close to the beach at mid-morning.Included in the swarm were clouds of shrimp, crab, grouper, snapper,
red fish and flounder. They were joined by more usual species,
including sea robins, needlefish and eels.Ten-year Manasota Key resident Nick Neidlinger spotted the commotion
from his condominium shortly before 9 a.m.The fish were moving in a narrow band in about 18 inches of water, he
said. They were headed south, and, so far as he could tell, the
moving mass of sea life stretched a good mile long.“We’re talking thousands and thousands of them,” Neidlinger said. “It
was so thick we couldn’t walk out.”Some fish washed ashore on the Gulf’s small waves, he said. The
stranded fish flipped and struggled until they flopped back into the
water to rejoin the piscatorial parade south.“There were blue crabs the size of a dinner plate,” Neidlinger
said. “You name the species of fish and they were there.”Neidlinger said more than 100 pelicans bombarded the fish, but he saw
no sharks or other predators, nor did he detect any signs of red tide.He said all the species “were swimming amongst each other. They
weren’t attacking each other.”Neidlinger added, “I have never seen anything like that in my life.
This was not a fish kill.”Beach-goers were grabbing crabs and fish as they swam by, Thursday.
One observer thought the fish might have been weakened by some sort
of toxin — perhaps red tide — because they could be scooped up
easily by people. The event lasted until late morning, although the
parade had thinned out by 11 a.m.A few scientists contacted Thursday were surprised to hear of the
unusual fish behavior in Englewood that morning. It was not typical
schooling, they said, because many varied species were involved.Scientists — usually by nature and always by training — are
reluctant to speculate about the causes of natural phenomena without
the benefit of observation and concrete data. However, they did offer
some broad possibilities for what they agreed was a highly unusual
event, one they had never encountered before.It might have been predator avoidance, said one, but that was
unlikely since there were no signs of predators and the species were
varied.The Gulf waters have currents that might have swept many fish along
in an unusual pattern, one speculated.Or it could have been caused by red tide that could not be detected
by beach-goers.Dr. Richard Pierce, director of ectotoxicology at the Mote Marine
Laboratory in Sarasota, said he had discussed the occurrence with Dr.
Cindy Heil, the director of biotoxin research at the Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission in St. Petersburg, after a
reporter’s phone call Thursday.“We agree this could be that they were trying to get away from red
tide, maybe offshore or in the deeper parts offshore,” Pierce said.He said red tide flows in higher or lower concentrations at various
levels of the Gulf. It also follows currents, which move at varying
levels and speeds.“Sometimes, we have found it in higher concentration along the
bottom. This could be what you’re looking at,” Pierce said.Red tide has been lingering in the Gulf for the past couple of
months, but it has been detected primarily in an area stretching from
northern Sarasota County north to Hernando County.It’s possible, Pierce said, that a stealth red tide could be moving
south, flowing with an offshore current along the bottom, “and
they’re moving ahead of it.”Key to that theory is that the fish reported Thursday included many
bottom feeders. “Sea robins, flounder, grouper are indications that
something is moving along the bottom,” Pierce said.“Unfortunately, this might be a phenomenon of red tide creeping in,
but we’ll have to wait until we get some samples,” he said.Mote recently installed two red tide detectors in Boca Grande, and
Pierce said there was some indication Thursday that red tide might
have been moving in that direction.But, he added, it was all simply speculation until tests could be
conducted.“We just don’t know what’s happening,” he said. “That’s a lot of
maybes and what-ifs. I know the state is working on that and some
other reports, so maybe by next week we’ll have some answers.”You can e-mail Gavin Off at goff@… or Stephen Baumann at
sbaumann@….
By GAVIN OFF
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