Drought affecting aquatic behavior in Galveston Bay

Red tide, more

David Crossley, Oct 21, 11.

The drought is playing havoc with water conditions and wildlife in the bays and along the beaches, according to a story in the Houston Chronicle:

It’s a little harder to fathom the impacts this record-setting, ongoing drought has had on Texas’ coastal marine environment than it is to see how it has affected terrestrial life.

But be assured, the bays have their own equivalent of all those dead and dying trees and the drought-displaced wildlife so obvious on the Texas landscape.

One of those currently is playing out along the coast through an outbreak of red tide.

Red tide, so named because it can turn water a reddish tint, most often occurs along the Texas coast when environmental conditions combine to bring together high water temperatures, high salinity levels and little water movement - three things this summer has produced in spades.

Red tide is caused when those conditions trigger an explosion of a common, saltwater-loving dinoflagellate algae named Karenia brevis, which produces high concentrations of a toxin that paralyzes fishes’ central nervous system.

For more than two weeks, such algae blooms have been occurring along the Texas coast, from Galveston to South Padre Island. The result has been scattered fish kills, mostly involving forage species such as menhaden, mullet and spot but also claiming numbers of highly prized sport fish including speckled trout, redfish, pompano, snook and even snapper. MORE

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