In early November Governor Ron DeSantis announce the launch of ProtectingFloridaTogether.gov, the state’s first-ever comprehensive water quality dashboard. The dashboard, which can be accessed at www.ProtectingFloridaTogether.gov, provides real-time information on water restoration projects and water quality via an interactive state map. “Our water and natural resources are the foundation of our economy and our way [...]
Every year for 34 years scientists have monitored the size of the Gulf of Mexico dead zone or hypoxic zone, which forms every spring. Last year’s dead zone was approximately 5,780 square miles, the size of Connecticut. This year NOAA scientists are forecasting this summer’s Gulf of Mexico dead zone will be approximately 7,829 square [...]
Thanks to some valuable help from local experts, START has produced a new PowerPoint presentation entitled “Red Tide & You”. The presentation is designed to answer the questions we heard from concerned citizens around the Sun Coast as we met with various groups during the recent devastating red tide bloom. 1.The five basic questions addressed [...]
As outlined in the poster above, START is actively working with Sarasota County’s Neighborhood Environmental Stewardship Team (NEST) to help reduce the nutrients that run into our waterways that can feed red tide. The poster was on display at Lucky’s Market Impact Day on April 23rd when 10% percent of the profits from the day’s [...]
The Florida legislature is now in session. Have our law makers heard from you about the need to address the nutrients in our waterways that feed red tide? If not, they should and often. The medium of choice should be email as many letters don’t get read by the targeted policy maker. Instead send short [...]
Now that the election is over and our current policy makers are in place, START is moving forward with a “Call To Action” to form a new coalition of organizations and concerned citizens to band together with “One Voice” to ensure that our policy makers follow through on their campaign promises to take action to [...]
More precisely, it is and it isn’t. Karenia Brevis, the toxic alga that populates the spreading, lethal blooms we call “red tide,” is, in fact, a naturally-occurring organism. And yes, much smaller red tides have been documented since the arrival of Europeans on these shores. But there is a vast difference between the naturally-occurring red [...]
