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themeatbridge t1_itptuj6 wrote

A "red tide" which is a lethal bloom of algae that kills anything in the water. They are more common than before humans due to climate change.

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ChickenFlavoredSocks t1_itqiuq5 wrote

Red tides are more than anything due to nutrient pollution. Development of coastal and riverine wetlands has significantly decreased the nutrient uptake that occurs before water flows out to the sea, and agriculture and home fertilizer use cause large amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus to be present in run off when it rains. Nitrogen is the limiting factor for the growth of marine plants and algae, so adding excess nitrogen significantly contributes to these blooms.

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Art-Zuron t1_its7wpm wrote

They also like warm water iirc, which is caused by climate change.

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ChickenFlavoredSocks t1_itslo3c wrote

It’s true that climate change does contribute, but it’s also worth noting that without human disruption of natural biogeochemical cycles (like the nitrogen cycle), even with climate change, we’d see significantly fewer harmful algal blooms. Algae do like the warm water, so when combined with excess nutrients the algal blooms only get worse. It’s just not really reasonable to point to climate change without mentioning nutrient pollution, which is far more impactful on algal blooms.

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CameranutzII t1_itq2zdv wrote

The number of sea life that dies in FL during a red tide is huge. Regrettably, red-tide outbreaks are common here.

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blueskies1800 t1_itra88t wrote

And it is caused by phosphate mining that promotes algae bloom.

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WummageSail t1_itrbra4 wrote

Suburban runoff, storm-induced sewage overflows and other nitrogen and phosphorous sources in the estuary system are also a large contributing factors. The common factor? Humans. Reports of red tide blooms along the Gulf Coast date back to pre-development days and humans enjoyed them so much that they worked to increase their frequency and intensity. Just like they did for hurricanes.

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Fluid_Lingonberry467 t1_itqk4xm wrote

Military sonar really fucks up the whales

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Kevin_Wolf t1_itr02ed wrote

Military sonar did not cause the red tide that killed these whales.

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