Red Tide Outline #2

This topic submitted by Carrie Bishop ( cellen78@aol.com) at 2:30 PM on 6/4/03.

This Ant is an "Aphid Rancher." (SE Costa Rica)

Tropical Field Courses -Interdisciplinary Studies-Miami University

Red Tide, also referred to as Harmful Algal Blooming (HAB), occurs when phytoplankton that
contains reddish pigments, "blooms" or grows very rapidly and becomes visible from the surface of the water. These blooms can be harmless, or can contain toxins that can cause the death of sea creatures. This phenomenon can also cause adverse reactions in the human body, through skin and respiratory irritation or through food poisoning (if an affected shellfish is ingested). Red Tide (which has no association with real tides) can be problematic for costal economies if seafood production is shut down, or if beaches are not available for use by tourists. I decided to study Red Tides after viewing dead fish that had washed up onto the beach and hearing the annoying coughs of my fellow travelers during my recent vacation in southern Florida.

Report Outline

I. Introduction
a. What is red tide?
b. Why study red tide? (personal experience)
c. Historical view of red tide (focus on Florida)
1. 1844 First Fish kill suspected to have been caused by red tide occurs
2. 1946-47 Considered the worst Florida red tide on record, U of Miami researchers identify and name the organism G. breve.
3. 1957 officials try spraying copper sulfate from crop dusters onto Gulf waters, but discontinue due to damage to other sea life.
4. September 1994-April 96, longest red tide bloom recorded.
5. Feb 2003 - present, moderate to high bloom with fish kills and irritation along the west coast of Florida
II. Biology of HABs
a. Types of algae
1. about 4000 known planktonic microalgae
2. about 80 toxic species
3. about 200 noxious species
4. the total number of potentially harmful species is deemed to be largely underestimated, given the relatively high number of species (3 or 4) added each year.
b. Blooms/Normal Growth
1. a bloom is a significant population increase which leads to a peak.
2. The impact of the HAB depends on the concentration of the harmful species
3. There is a minimum cell concentration required for toxicity for all HABs.
III. Effect on Wildlife
a. Shellfish
b. Birds
c. Mammals
d. Fish
IV. Human response to HABs
a. Food poisoning
b. Skin and Respiratory Irritation
c. Social and Economic
V. Future of HAB Research and human control of HABs
a. Community organizations
1. GEOHAB (Global Ecology and Oceanography of HAB)
2. ECOHAB
3. EUROHAB
4. Local: START
b. Management of HABs
1. Current abilities to prevent HABs are limited
2. The best we can do is early warning when harmful species reach critical concentrations
3. The next goal is to forecast harmful events up to 7 days before they occur, in an effort to move fish and harvest shellfish before they are killed.
4. The final stage would be to control the bloom completely, by adding one of several substances to the water.
a. One substance is ozonated seawater, which in experimental trials reduced, but did not completely prevent, the release of toxins by K brevis.
b. A second possibility is the introduction of Nannochloris sp.
VI. Conclusion

Resources:

The Harmful Algae Page. National Office for Marine Biotoxins and Harmful Algal Blooming. March
29, 2003 http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/whathabs/whathabs.html

Florida Marine Research Institute. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. March 29,
2003. http://www.floridamarine.org/features/default.asp?id=1018

START: Solutions To Avoid Red Tide, Inc. March 29, 2003. http://www.start1.com/

The Red Tide Alliance. March 29, 2003. http://www.redtideonline.com

The Mote Marine Red Tide Update Page. Mote Marine Laboratory. March 30, 2003. Director Mike
Henry. http://www.marinelab.sarasota.fl.us/~mhenry/rtupdate.phtml

Florida Environment.com. March 30, 2003. http://www.floridaenvironment.com

Journal Sources:

The degradation of Karenia brevis toxins utilizing ozonated seawater. Harmful Algae. Volume: 2, Issue: 2, June, 2003. pp. 101-107. Schneider, Keith R.; Pierce, Richard H.; Rodrick, Gary E.

High affinity binding of red tide neurotoxins to marine mammal brain. Aquatic Toxicology. Volume: 46, Issue: 2, July, 1999. pp. 139-148. Trainer, Vera L.; Baden, Daniel G.

Recerational exposure to aerosoloized brevotoxins during Florida red tide events. Harnful Algae. Volume: 2, Issue:1, March 2003. pp. 19-28. Backer, Lorraine C.; Fleming, Lora E.; Rowan, Alan; Cheng, Yung-Sung; Benson, Janet, Pierce, Richard H.; et. al.

Studies of the effect of Y-APONIN from Nannochloris sp. On the Florida red tide orgainsm Karenia brevis. Toxicon. Volume:41, Issue: 2, February, 2003. pp. 245-249. Derby, Melissa L.; Galliano, Michael; Krzandwski, Joseph J.; Martin, Dean F.

The diversity of harmful algal blooms: a challenge for science and management. Ocean and Coastal Management Volume: 43, Issue: 8-9, 2000. pp. 725-748. Zingone, Adriana; Oksfeldt Enevoldsen, Henrik

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