CAPE CORAL, Fla. — As the weather gets warmer, the risk for blue-green algae grows higher.
Blue-green algae is a bacteria that can affect not on our local
wildlife but can be dangerous for people and their pets.
If you have taken a trip to Fort Myers Beach or just walked along the Caloosahatchee River recently, you may have noticed the dark green color that is tinting the water.
According to the Calusa Waterkeeper group, that color is from the thousands of gallons of water being dumbed into the Caloosahatchee River from Lake Okeechobee every 14 days.
The Waterkeeper says since much of our area is still trying to recover from Hurricane Ian, it is doing even more damage to our environment.
“This is the beginning of spring so it’s the beginning of oyster spat spawning season, as well as the tarpon migration and many other things," said Codty Pierce, Calusa Waterkeeper. "We’re constantly seeing our salinity levels challeged and dropped because of this introduction of fresh water as a result of the El Nino weather cycles that have been going on right now. Something that is a concern for us because most of our resident species are taking this time to do 'natures' calling,' we’re really having that impact because of those levels of fresh water and added stressor.”
The Calusa Waterkeeper group says the solution is making your voice heard to local and state representatives on our local water quality.
