Crab Death in the Red Tides

This past weekend, the wife and I visited the opposite (west) side of Florida for a couple days in our Landwhale (RV).

The beaches there have been mostly abandoned for months now as they suffer the impact of red tides. Without going too far into the science of it, red tide is an algae bloom that discolors the water and produces toxic chemicals that are harmful to marine life as well as humans. To marine animals, the toxins affect their nervous system, and they die. Whales, dolphins, fish, crabs, eels and pretty much any other sea creature have been washing up on the Gulf shores of Florida.

The wife and I decided to go anyway. The red tides have been lessening and we don't normally go into the ocean much anyway. We stay on the beach. With the dead things.

At the beaches of Sanibel Island, accessible via a long bridge from the mainland, we waited for sunset. We walked the beaches, and had to watch our step, lest our feet squish atop something unpleasant.

I won't post any pictures of the dead puffer fish, eels, or other squishy things, but the crabs were especially beautiful, even dead.

Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://negativerealm.com/crab-death-in-the-red-tides/

Very sad, this mass death. Small things can have big effects.

see, I tried to make you and your dead sea creatures look inspirational

So what you're saying...is that size doesn't matter?

Too an extent, that could be true.

But then, the entire Gulf is supposed to have been caused by the meteor Chixiclub, so big things also have a lot of impact.

heh, impact

Your skyscape is gorgeous! Suitable for framing.

Wow. I'm staying on the gulf coast for a week next month... guess I won't pack a swimming suit. :(

Things were quite a bit better a week ago when we went, compared to only a month ago. The southwestern edge of the state (around Fort Myers) was really the worst of it, with all kinds of dead sea life washing up on shore. Definitely check the local beach reports before you go out and frolic :)

Nice capture of the shells. There's so much detail and sadness in these frames.

Nice capture of the
Shells. There's so much detail and
Sadness in these frames.

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