The Red Tide is no Joke

[DGS49]

Red tide intensifies: Local beaches to have high respiratory irritation this weekend

Sarasota and Manatee beachgoers could find themselves coughing and sneezing.

www.yahoo.com

I'm "vacationing"* in Madeira Beach, Florida this year (the month of February). At my wife's insistence, we paid a heavy premium for a rented condo right on the beach - sixth floor - so she can look at the water at all times, and take a walk on the beach any time she wants.

A couple days ago, I went to down the pool to read, and I found that I couldn't stop coughing. I didn't notice anyone else having a problem, so I went back up to our room so that I wouldn't be disturbing any of the other Sun Worshipers. It was like every time I inhaled, my lungs got an acute irritation and I could not not cough. My wife was walking the beach at the time.

When she got back, she said she was having a similar issue, and she also had noticed a half dozen fairly large dead fish washed up on the beach. While in our air conditioned room, or even on the balcony, it was not an issue - maybe a little one on the balcony. Dining with my nephew that evening, he said, Yeah, that's the infamous, "Red Tide."

Now it's in the newspapers, and they say it will be at its worst this weekend, our last weekend down here.

Yesterday we went for a walk on the beach wearing our cloth (worthless) Covid masks, which were still in the glove box of our car, and it kept the irritation to an acceptable level, although we were the only people on the beach so protected. Although there were a lot of people coughing, it seemed only to be a fraction of the beach people.

Once you get away from the beach - even on the coastal highway, which is almost entirely "protected" by multi-story buildings - it is not an issue. I took a 15 mile bike ride yesterday afternoon and had no issues with it at all.

I know this must have something to do with global warming, but it's a significant irritation to me, and I won't be vacationing here in the future. Maybe the Atlantic shore next time.

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* Since I'm retired, there is some question about whether I can "vacation" at all.

 

[jwoodie]

Maybe you have a persistent cough from Covid vaccinations/boosters. I do.

 

[DGS49]

Actually the Red Tide comes and goes. I went out walking on the beach for 90 minutes and had zero issues.

 

[Esdraelon]

Maybe you have a persistent cough from Covid vaccinations/boosters. I do.

I developed a nagging cough several years ago and it reached a point where I was coughing so deeply that I was losing my breath. Eventually, I was lucky enough to see a fill-in physician while mine was on vacay and he wrote me a different prescription for my hypertension. I had been taking a drug called Lisinopril. Apparently, a significant number of patients have the coughing issue if they take Lisinopril.

 

[odanny]

My neighbor is in St. Pete and says it's not bad where she is, but she is on the peninsula, where I guess the red tide is not as bad as the other side, but I read that Sarasota has it bad and is canceling beach festivals a month in advance. If you're still there it seems to be really bad now.