ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - The head of one of the U.S.'s largest environmental nonprofits says he was stunned when he took a boat ride to survey the effects of red tide in the Gulf of Mexico.
Collin O'Mara, the president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, went out Wednesday with a charter boat captain into waters off the Southwest Florida coast. He says he was "astounded' by the thousands and thousands of dead fish, eels and horseshoe crabs. He also saw the carcasses of six-foot-long (2-meter) Goliath grouper fish.
MORE COVERAGE: Southwest Florida Water Crisis
The toxic algae bloom has overrun Florida's southern Gulf Coast this summer, killing hundreds of sea turtles, nearly 100 manatees, 11 dolphins and tons of fish. Maintenance crews have used backhoes to scoop up all the dead marine life on the beaches.
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