SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, TEXAS -- Cameron County Marine Extension Agent Tony Reisinger is sampling the surf to determine if the persistent red tide that has plagued the lower Texas coast is finally beginning to disappear.
"This has been a tenacious red tide. This bloom has lasted well over a month and a half," said Reisinger.
Reisinger and others have been regularly monitoring the surf and bay since the beginning of the toxic algal bloom.
The water samples are examined under a microscope at the Coastal Studies Lab on South Padre, and cells are counted to determine the intensity of the bloom.
"I think the red tide has been in decline for the past couple of weeks, even though we have see a few more fish kills. The majority of the fish were taken out early in the bloom, and the population of cells has been declining steadily over time."
A recent fish kill just north of the town of South Padre was not even evident 24 hours later as an exceptionally high tide washed the beach clean.
"The ability of the beach to clean itself never fails to amaze me."
Approximately five red tide blooms have afflicted the coastal waters of South Texas in the past 25 years, and while the current bloom has been one of the longest in duration, biologists do not believe it has had a significant impact on the fishery.
"We are looking at millions, millions of fish and they think the effect on the total population is going to be minimal."
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