BRADENTON, Fla. — Red tide's impact isn't just being felt at our beaches.
People who live along canals say dead fish are piling up there too, creating a huge mess and a putrid smell.
Homeowners living on the canals in the Coral Shores neighborhood along Cortez Road have been hit particularly hard.
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Hundreds—perhaps more than a thousand—of dead, decaying fish killed by red tide can be seen collecting in one corner of the canal, directly behind two homes.
Neighbors told the Bradenton Herald it’s the worst it has been in years.
Mark Kercher can barely stand the sight or smell of his waterfront yard, which is a particular shame considering he only just moved in one week ago.
t’s a shame is what it is," Kercher said, with a bandana wrapped around his face. “I’m wearing the mask because I can’t take this."
Kercher said he's not sure what the solution is but he knows he doesn't want to be the one to have to clean it up.
“It was not that big of a problem when I grew up here as a kid," he said. "It’s gotten worse and worse every season it happens."
A future fix?
A potential solution could be coming.
According to MOTE Marine Laboratory, these canals are the perfect testing grounds for some new technology that might be able to help turn the tide, so to speak.
The method of water clean-up uses ozone. Pumps suck water in and actually mix it with ozone before dumping the water back out good as new. This method can process up to 300 gallons of water a minute.
It's similar to a smaller system MOTE uses to get rid of red tide toxins from its sea life tanks in their marine life hospital.
Unfortunately, while the method can't be used on a scale as large as the Gulf, researchers are confident it can really help out in smaller waterways.
“This system gets rid of the red tide, gets rid of the toxins, gets rid of the access organic matter that's decomposing,” said Dr. Richard Pierce, a senior scientist with MOTE. “But now the big test is how will it work in the real world?”
Testing is currently underway. Pierce says the hope is to prove it works on a small scale, to then secure funding to take it to a large scale.
However, it’s expensive which is why it hasn't been done before.
Need help now?
For homeowners wanting and waiting to clear out waterways around their homes, Manatee County is offering some unique solutions.
Since the county doesn’t have a marine fleet to remove the fish from smaller waterways, nor the authority to enter private property to do it, county leaders are turning to local fisherman.
"The county doesn’t have the resources, we don’t own those waters and in a lot of cases they are private waterways and canals," said Manatee County spokesperson Nick Azzara,
Homeowners who need help clearing their canals can be connected to a local fisherman willing to assist.
The county’s Citizen Action Center is collecting contact information from fisherman interested in contracting their services with homeowners or homeowner associations. Fisherman can call the center at (941)742-5800. That information will then be posted to Manatee County’s red tide website: www.mymanatee.org/redtide.
Manatee County is also making roll off dumpsters available for red tide waste at Bayfront Park on Anna Maria Island and at three county-owned boat ramps: Coquina North, Coquina South and Kingfish boat ramps beginning Wednesday. Using the dumpsters can help homeowners avoid landfill fees, Azzara said.
“We saw this as a good, low-cost solution for the taxpayers," Azzara said.
Kercher's not convinced it's the best option.
“I don’t think it’s our responsibility," he said. "I don’t know if the current’s going to take it out, I don’t know if the wind will help push it out, but it’s got to go somewhere. But it doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen any time soon.”
There is no penalty for homeowners who opt not to pay to have fish removed from a canal near their home, according to Azzara.
On Monday, Gov. Rick Scott declared Manatee County to be part of a group of seven Gulf coast counties impacted by a state of emergency from red tide. Azzara said it's still being determined how much of the emergency funding the county will receive but some of it could go toward helping clean up canals.
Watch: Click or tap here to watch Josh Sidorowicz's Facebook Live video on how red tide is impacting the Coral Shores neighborhood in Bradenton, Florida
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