Tag Archives: north Pinellas county

Red Tide of April 2016

Red Tide of April 2016

Yep, red tide is back at Clearwater Beach and Honeymoon Island.  It’s been hanging around since the beginning of April.

Red tide is an organism, a phytoplankton.  The over abundance of phytoplankton is commonly known as red tide.  Its scientific name is Karenia brevis (genus, species), or K. brevis shortened.  Red tides is when there is an over-abundance of pytoplankton in the water(called an algae bloom).  The algae blooms are often during the warmer months in the Gulf of Mexico, but its timing can be somewhat unpredictable.

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Clearwater’s Cold Stunned Sea Turtles

          A Sea Turtle is an air breathing reptile who lives and thrives in the Gulf of Mexico, not to mention the waters all over the world.   The turtle is a large shelled creature who uses it’s shell as protection for its soft body.  The shell is made up of many bones covered with horny scales, also known as scoots.  They have no teeth, but very strong jaws.  There are seven species of endangered sea turtles, the green turtle, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, olive ridley, Kemp’s ridley, and flatback.  The majority of these species of sea turtle are found in the waters off Florida.  Only the olive ridley and flatback are not. Sea turtles grow very slowly, and live for decades.

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Golden Hour: A small west swell at Honeymoon Island State Park.

Honeymoon Island pass is the ideal place for paddleboarding.  The waves on the shoals and in the pass break further than anywhere I’ve ever seen.