FL: More About Black "Blob" Of Water...Attn: Anne Warfield!
Slimpickins
Slim
Dark waters menace the Keys
Mysterious black water threatens Florida Bay and scientists can't explain
the phenomenon.
posted 03/26/02
"The water was just black as far as you could see," said Tim Daniels, a
fisherman and pilot living in Marathon, who first spotted the black water in
mid-January. "I'd gone flying to take an early look at what the kingfishing
was going to be like. It seemed like the whole world was black. Black,
black."
By KAREN S. PARKER
karen....@heraldtribune.com
FLORIDA BAY -- Keys fishermen say they've never seen anything like the
ominous mass of black water that mysteriously appeared in Florida Bay in
early January.
"The water was just black as far as you could see," said Tim Daniels, a
fisherman and pilot living in Marathon, who first spotted the black water in
mid-January. "I'd gone flying to take an early look at what the kingfishing
was going to be like. It seemed like the whole world was black. Black,
black."
Daniels, 58, who began fishing the keys in 1956, has never heard of black
water.
"I flew for 20, 30, then 40 miles looking for clean water and fish and saw
nothing but black water," he said. "I've seen red tide and freshwater runoff
and this wasn't like either of those."
Researchers from around the state should have some answers soon. Various
facilities, including Mote Marine, Florida Marine Research Institute and
University of South Florida's remote sensing lab staff, plan to confer at
FMRI headquarters in St. Petersburg on Thursday. They will discuss the
results of water sample testing and reviews of satellite imagery.
The black water phenomenon has had a major impact on the Florida Bay fishing
industry. The area from Marco Island to the keys is usually a prime Spanish
mackerel fishery. It's also rich in jacks and snappers, as well as blue
runners and other bait fish. But since the black water appeared, few fish
have been seen. Commercial stone crabbers, lobstermen and commercial
fishermen are concerned that their businesses may be wiped out, said
Daniels.
He said other fishermen have reported that sea grasses and other bottom
plant life have died and that rotten sea plants are floating on the surface
of the water.
"I've also been told by crabbers that whatever this is, it has killed the
moss and other growth on their buoys," Daniels said. "When they pull them up
they are clean, nothing is left alive on them."
In recent weeks satellite imagery has indicated that the black water has
begun to dissipate as it moves into shallower water around the long chain of
keys. It appears to be moving toward the Florida Keys National Marine
Sanctuary, a delicate ecosystem of endangered coral reefs and sea life.
Scientists have been working for almost two weeks to figure out just what
the black water is.
"I think we are putting the pieces of the puzzle together," said Dr.
Chuanmim Hu from the remote sensing lab that reviews satellite imagery.
Hu said he and Dr. Frank Muller Karger were surprised at how distinct the
black water appeared in the satellite images from late November and
December.
It appears that there may have been some black water intrusion from the Gulf
of Mexico into Florida Bay at that time, said Hu.
"Other images from January and February indicated it may have first appeared
around the mouth of the Shark River, which would have suggested freshwater
runoff," said Hu. "But these older images suggest something else."
At its peak in early February, the black water stretched nearly 40 miles
across, from 20 miles north of Marathon Key halfway to Naples, and then
extended about 20 miles into the Gulf of Mexico from Florida Bay.
Only one previous incident of black water has been reported, said Beverly
Roberts, research administrator for Florida Marine Research Institute. In
1902, marine biologist A.G. Mayer wrote in his study, "The Tortugas as a
Station in Research and Biology," that when he was traveling from Key West
to the Tortugas aboard the supply vessel Activa, the water was "cypress
stained" -- almost black -- and there were fish kills and coral die-offs
wherever it was present.
There have been no reports of dead fish or sea birds associated with latest
outbreak of black water, said Roberts.
"Unlike red tide, people have reported seeing no dead birds or fish," she
said. "This black water has been around since January without causing any
fish kills. We are running a number of tests on water samples. Scientists
are testing for nutrients, water chemistry, and phytoplankton levels."
Phytoplankton, one-celled floating microscopic plants, are called "grasses
of the sea." Red tide or dinoflagellate is one type of phytoplankton.
Scientists have theorized that the black water might be some sort of algal
bloom that is not red tide but somehow similar. Other theories include
increased nutrients in the water caused by high levels of freshwater outflow
from the Everglades.
Eric Mueller, director of the Mote Marine lab's Center for Tropical Research
on Summerland Key said, "This doesn't seem to be an algal bloom per se.
We've taken some samples and have sent them to Mote to be analyzed. We've
been doing some counts for red tide organisms and although there is some red
tide present, this is not a red tide bloom."
A satellite image taken in February shows a large mass of black water
Anne Warfield
--
Anne Warfield
indigoace at goodsol period com
http://www.goodsol.com/cats/