The red tide resurfaced in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico crashing the party for this weekend's Sandcastle Days on South Padre Island.
The algae bloom not only infested the waters, but also filled the air with toxic chemicals during the four day festival -- making it difficult for visitors and participants to enjoy it.
"We weren’t prepared for it so your eyes just burn out of our head and coughing and wheezing and sneezing,” Matt Long told Action 4 News.
Long was one of 24 participating sculptors of this year’s competition.
He traveled from New York to South Padre Island.
During the past three days, he worked for 23 hours to complete his sculpture while visitors looked on.
“As you can see it looks like the SARS epidemic in China is over here," he said referring to many of the visitors wearing surgical masks to protect themselves from the red tide.
Although the red tide can be lethal for fish and other marine animals, its effects of on humans are less severe.
According to the Texas Park and Wildlife's website, the toxins they release into the air and water can cause irritation of the eyes and throat.
"We didn’t even know about it until we came out here," said Cristina Campo of Brownsville.
As the festival was happening, just a few hundred feet away, she married her longtime boyfriend, Robert Mata.
Organizers said despite the red tide, nearly 25,000 people turned out to this year's event. They said they hope the turnout this year will be their biggest yet.
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