Keeping up with algae blooms to protect marine life across Southwest Florida

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. —

Nicole Alyse, the Bonita Water Steward, is working to safeguard local waterways by monitoring conditions that contribute to algal blooms, including nitrates and phosphates. Twice a week, Alyse samples the area to track these nutrients and watch for signs of harmful blooms.

"It's telling me that the dissolved oxygen levels are about 50%," Alyse said. "I would like to see that a little bit higher. Organisms need the oxygen."

She explained that low dissolved oxygen levels can result in marine life not getting enough oxygen, a condition often caused by algal blooms. Blooms, such as red tide, thrive on excess nutrients like nitrogen.

"Those are going to measure all of the inorganics and the total levels of nitrogen, which is what's really important to our waterways," Alyse said.

Excess nitrogen can fuel algal blooms, deplete oxygen levels in the water, and lead to fish kills.

"We have a total maximum daily load, and we exceed that every day," Alyse said.

Back on land, Alyse uses machines to analyze chlorophyll levels in the samples, which can indicate the presence of red tide. While current samples appear normal, red tide typically peaks during warmer months.

"The thing about red tide is that it aerosolizes, so it does end up in the air. And you do breathe it in. Just because you're not in the water does not mean it's not harmful to you," Alyse said.

Nicholas Culligan, a postdoctoral researcher with Florida Gulf Coast University at the Vester Field Station, emphasized the importance of maintaining healthy water systems for recreation, commercial fishing, and tourism.

"If we want to have a healthy ecosystem out here for recreation, commercial fishing, tourism, we need to have a healthy water system," Culligan said.

Culligan explained that while red tide has always existed, it is exacerbated by fertilizer use and runoff.

"The ocean is important. We need to monitor it. We need to make sure it's out there and staying good for everybody to use. And, you know, Southwest Florida's very dependent on the ocean and water. So we want to make sure that it's there for future generations," Culligan said.

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