Hundreds of dead fish wash ashore in Pinellas County, Florida, America

Hundreds of dead fish have washed ashore on Honeymoon Island State Park in Pinellas County, concerning many beachgoers that a massive offshore red tide algae bloom might be getting worse.

In addition to fish, which began washing ashore sometime last week, some people also spotted dead jellyfish.

“Little, tiny jellyfish about the size of a 50-cent piece. I saw a couple larger ones, but there was just like hundreds of them just all over along the sand,” said Dunedin resident Pat Ahart, who takes a weekly walk along Honeymoon Island. “You hate to see that happening. It’s not nice for the fish. It’s not good for people coming to the beach.”

This marked the first time since the bloom, which is filled with Kerenia brevis algae, formed several weeks ago. It stretches from Dixie County to Pinellas County and has been measured at 90 miles long and about 50 miles wide.

The red tide currently sits between 10 and 20 miles off the Pinellas coast.

Jennifer Kreinik, a longtime Tampa resident, remembers the 2005 red tide that led to thousands of fish washing ashore on Bay Area beaches. The current bloom has also killed thousands of marine life, most of which are still in the Gulf of Mexico.

“I have been out to Honeymoon when there’s been red tide before, and Caladesi [Island], and when it’s really onshore you can’t even walk — the breathing is difficult, your eyes burn, you basically are running back to your car,” Kreinik said, adding she was surprised by what she saw on the back Tuesday. “There were quite a few dead jellyfish, larger jellyfish and we did see some dead fish, maybe 15 or 20. But the odor isn’t really too bad and I don’t feel any ill effects from the wind coming in off the shore at this point.”

Scientists at the University of South Florida College of Marine Science have said during a bad red tide, beachgoers can experience difficulty breathing.

Businesses near Honeymoon Island are beginning to worry that another massive fish kill could drive tourists away.

“It would hurt all the local businesses,” said Kelli Maurer, at Sandbar Grill. “Right now we’re coming into what they call snowbird season, and it’s going to stop a lot of them from coming down, maybe later or shortening their trips, or cancelling their trips all together.”

Experts have said predicting the impact of a red tide is difficult but worry that more fish will begin to wash ashore unless the algae bloom begins to die.

It would likely take a storm the size of a tropical storm to break apart the current red tide bloom.