By Sid Perkins
When Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne struck Florida in the summer of 2004, they killed 116 people, left thousands homeless, and caused billions of dollars in damage. Now, scientists suggest that the storms may also have triggered an intense, widespread Gulf of Mexico algae bloom that afflicted the state’s western coast throughout 2005.
Commonly called red tides regardless of their color, toxic algal blooms frequently occur in the shallow waters off Florida’s west-central coast. The organism primarily responsible for red tides there undergoes population explosions that scientists have been working to explain for more than a century, says Chuanmin Hu, an oceanographer at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg. Toxins produced by the algae accumulate in shellfish, kill sea creatures, and irritate the eyes and respiratory systems of boaters and beachgoers.