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.
