© 2024 90.7 WMFE. All Rights Reserved.
Public Media News for Central Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

State probes if red tide is to blame for fish kill in Tampa

Dead fish killed by red tide wash up onto North Redington Beach in Pinellas County.
Dead fish killed by red tide wash up onto North Redington Beach in Pinellas County.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The smell of dead fish belied the look of the place — the perfect portrait of a lazy summer day at Ballast Point Park.

But at the watery edge of the park, along the Hillsborough Bay shoreline, hundreds of rotting fish and rusty red algae pooled among the mangroves, riprap and iconic Bayshore Boulevard balustrade.

State investigators are testing whether the culprit is red tide, as it has been with fish kills along Pinellas County’s waterways, perhaps fueled by wastewater from an old Port Manatee fertilizer plant.

The fish began to bob to the Tampa Bay surface in early June.

Danielle Prieur is WMFE's education reporter.