Red tide bothers beach-goers

Ft. Myers Beach busy, but some complain of piles of dead fish washed up

By Colleen Hogan

CREATED Feb. 24, 2013 - UPDATED: Feb. 25, 2013

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FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. - Piles of dead fish washing along the beaches in Southwest Florida. Four in Your Corner's Colleen Hogan is on Ft. Myers Beach tonight, checking out the Red Tide situation and talking to beach-goers.

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"Just a few dead fish here and there but we just watched where we walked," tourist Mary Noe said, of the conditions on the beach.

Noe, mindful of her step, as she walks the beach with her family.

"I've had more than one person today come up to the vendors booth and say, 'isn't anyone cleaning up the fish?" John Paena, with Calusa Ghost Tours and beach rentals, said. "I say ya, there's a whole crew but this is a really big beach."

Paena says he's seen the red tide much, much worse. Still:

"I probably saw a few hundred scattered on the beach this morning," he said.

Workers out, morning and night, cleaning up the dead fish on foot and by ATV. Red tide has been bothering people all week at many of Southwest Florida's beaches. It can cause respiratory trouble if you're sensitive, even physical injuries.

"We've had an unusual number of people getting injured by the dead catfish on the beach, people stepping on the barbs," Ft. Myers Beach Fire Control Capt. Ron Marten said.

Paena says the weather report over the next few days suggests the red tide might push out again.

Colleen Hogan, reporter
chogan@jrn.com