Red tide antidote shows promise

By Cindy Lane
sun staff writer

VENICE – In a marine biology classroom at Venice High School, students stand over saltwater aquariums, pour in a liquid and watch what happens.

First, they pour it over Karenia brevis samples they got from the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg.

The liquid kills the red tide, a type of algae that kills marine life including fish, dolphins, manatees, sea turtles and sea birds, and causes respiratory problems in people. Next they pour it into aquariums containing fish and shrimp. As the students adjust the concentration of the liquid, a few of the marine creatures give their lives for science. But once they find the right concentration, everything survives.

This year’s class is duplicating the experiments of last year’s class to make sure the results are the same.

But they’re not going to get rich solving the red tide riddle.

That’s what Nokomis inventor Bob Rigby hopes to do.

"It’s what inventors dream of," said Rigby, whose parents sent him to St. Petersburg to live with cousins during a red tide outbreak when he was 8 years old because it affected his health.

This Wednesday, Rigby will stand proudly by as Venice High School accepts a donation from the boater’s group Standing Watch to continue the research on his secret formula, which he said will be patented soon along with a device to disperse it in the ocean.

Until then, he won’t tell anyone what’s in it. Not even the students.

"I’m an entrepreneur," said Rigby, a high school graduate who estimates that he’s only spent about $20 developing the formula.

How is it possible that $20 worth of material could solve the red tide problem when researchers at respected laboratories say they’re years from a solution?

"I think the Almighty had a hand in it," Rigby said, adding that he doesn’t work with research institutions because they have insisted on knowing what’s in the formula before it’s patented.

That’s why he chose Venice High School, whose science department chairperson, Charles Powell, saw an opportunity, not a mystery, for his marine science students.

"The students are learning how to do research," Powell said, adding that this year, they hope to look more closely at the health effects of the formula on fish, including whether it affects their reproduction.

"We also want to reconfirm our findings with larger volumes of seawater," he said.

"This work has had a tremendous impact on the kids," said Rigby, who has worked for five years on the project.

His next step after he gets a patent will be to get patents in foreign countries he has received inquiries from and to get environmental permits to test the formula in the open Gulf of Mexico.

If the nutrients in runoff from farms, lawns, golf courses, industry and other sources feed red tide, as Rigby and others believe, the red ride problem will continue to grow without his formula, he said.

"You can correlate the growth of the west coast of Florida with the growth of red tide," he said, warning that future growth means more red tide and more problems for the fishing and tourism industries.

"It’s depleting our fish stock," he said. "And people can’t enjoy the vacation they’ve waited for and saved for, and they’re not coming back."

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Gas crunch a factor in slow holiday

By Tom Vaught
sun staff writer

Sometimes things are not as they seem.

It appears that reports of gasoline as high as $6 per gallon in some southern states, long lines of cars queued around pumps that have fuel and bitter red tide in the air have taken a toll at Island cash registers over Labor Day weekend.

This was not a typical holiday on the Island. There was less

traffic, more "vacancy" signs and no waiting at the restaurants. Despite the cooler weather and a waning red tide, the beaches more closely resembled those on a regular weekday.

"It's been sparse," said Lifeguard Collin Schmidt. "We expected bigger crowds."

When asked if he had any ideas about why the crowds are thin, Schmidt said he thinks it might be related to the gas situation.

The price of gasoline soared from around $2.60 at the start of last week to nearly $3 per gallon by Saturday, spurred by reports of fuel shortages as the result of damage to drilling rigs and refineries in the northern Gulf Coast from Hurricane Katrina. The price of gas at the Circle K in Bradenton Beach stayed at $2.59 per gallon until the pumps ran dry Saturday. The Citgo station in Holmes Beach went to $2.99.9 per gallon over the weekend and the other two Holmes Beach outlets were closer to $2.90. The owner of Jessie's Island Store, Hank Belval, said they expected to get a regular fuel supply through this week, although they might be restricted as to how much. Brett Vande Vrede, owner of the Pure station, said he was not sure if his shipments would be restricted. Neither would speculate as to how high the price might go.

The worries over red tide and gasoline supplies began before the weekend. Mary Ann Brockman, Executive Director of the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce, said Friday that her normal stream of inquiries into vacancies from last-minute travelers trickled to almost nothing.

"We've only had four parties call," she said Friday afternoon. "Normally, we're deluged."

Resort owners and operators had a mixed report, but many said they had had cancellations before the weekend began.

The staff at Blue Water Beach Club, in Holmes Beach, said they were not doing as well as they normally do for Labor Day. They reported several cancellations due to the gasoline scare and one cancellation because the people decided to try to help with relief efforts along the northern Gulf Coast.

"We were full over the weekend," said Melanie Johnson, manager of the Anna Maria Beach Cottages. "We had some inquiries about the availability of gas and how bad the red tide was."

Connie Brannon, at Siam Gardens, said they had a lot of traffic over the weekend due to an open house, where investors toured the rooms which are being sold for condominium ownership. Siam Garden will continue to be run as a resort. Brannon said they had six rooms full out of 16 and most of them were from Florida within a two to three hour drive. One was from the United Kingdom and the other was from Tennessee.

Brockman said the Chamber has been getting a lot of calls lately about the red tide. She said they refer them to the toll-free phone number that gives out the latest information. She said she would rather have visitors know what the situation is than to have them come down, experience red tide and decide they would never come back to the Island.

 

Five-year-old AME student makes a difference

By Tom Vaught
sun staff writer

BRADENTON – Chasten Whitfield, a five-year-old kindergarten student at Anna Maria Elementary School, is well on her way to learning the ways of the world. She learned recently how to make money for things she wants to own and she learned last week about giving to those who don't have as much.

According to her mother, Kapi, Chasten was touched by the destruction in Louisiana and Mississippi from Hurricane Katrina and decided someone else needed her money more than she did.

"She set up a lemonade stand last weekend (Aug. 27and 28) to earn money so she could buy some toys," said Kapi. "But once she heard about the destruction in the Gulf states, she decided to give that money to help those people."

Chasten had earned about $8, according to her mother, and she figured out on her own what she could do to help.

"During the past few days, she's seen it on a new website," said Kapi. "She saw a baby that wouldn't wake up and she decided to take not only the money she earned from the lemonade stand, but all the money in her piggybank to the Red Cross."

Kapi said her daughter knew about hurricanes because her father, Billy, is a firefighter with the Cedar Hammock Fire District and he had to work a lot of extra hours last year when we were in the projected path of one. Kapi said her daughter has a good understanding of what is going on and now she has an idea of how to help the people there.

"To know that she thinks she can make a difference for those people up there," Kapi said, "she's my hero."

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Communications vital to storm recovery

By Tom Vaught
sun staff writer

BRADENTON BEACH – The television images of New Orleans are haunting and the news reports are overwhelming, but a local emergency official says preparedness is the key to quick recovery.

Bradenton Beach Police Lt. John Cosby, who has served as this city's emergency management officer for 17 years, said nobody could have been prepared for the scale of Hurricane Katrina's path of destruction when it hit east of New Orleans last Monday. However, it appears some states were more prepared to deal with recovery than others.

Cosby said he feels Hurricane Andrew showed a lot of people how disruptive a direct hit from a hurricane can be, but for those who were not around in 1992 to see it, Hurricane Katrina is a wakeup call.

Cosby said it appears one reason for the delay in getting relief to those who stayed for the storm appears to be a lack of preparation and coordination among governmental agencies. He said although the federal government was slow to respond, the states have to be the first to organize. Cosby said Louisiana appears to be the least prepared.

"There were no major problems in Mississippi and Alabama," he said. "In Louisiana, there was nothing. The governor and the mayor (of New Orleans) were not communicating."

Cosby said communication is vital and that's one reason West Manatee Fire & Rescue, Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach purchased satellite telephones, which can be used even when local cell phone facilities are knocked out, just for such an event. He said the first few hours after the storm leaves are very important and communication has to be established.

Cosby said situation in New Orleans should serve as a warning to residents and agencies in the Hurricane Belt – don't depend on the federal government to take care of everything.

"You must be self-reliant," he said. "That's why this city is prepared the way it is. When something like this happens, you're on your own."

For example, Bradenton Beach commissioners approved agreements last Thursday with Manatee County and three companies to handle storm debris removal and disposal. The agreements were the result of inquiries by Bradenton Beach about whether Manatee County would be able to handle the large amount of debris that would be going to the landfill after a hurricane.

Other measures initiated by the city over the years include having a place for elected officials to stay off-Island when a storm approaches so they can approve expenditures to get the city back on its feet plus an off-Island storage space for city records. Cosby said they are always looking for ways to stay ahead of the game.

"By working with the other governments here, we just get better prepared," he said. "Every year, we add to our level of preparedness."

Cosby said nobody could deal with the scale of the category four storm, but he feels Florida in general and Bradenton Beach in particular are among the best prepared to deal with the aftermath.

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Tourism agency may consider red tide funds

By Cindy Lane
sun staff writer

Manatee County tourism officials have a contingency fund in case a hurricane keeps tourists from visiting Anna Maria Island, but there’s no similar fund for red tide.

The Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) included a hurricane fund in its last budget for advertising to counteract images of devastation such as those broadcast after Hurricane Charley hit Southwest Florida.

While no similar fund exists to promote the area after a red tide outbreak, the Manatee County Tourist Development Council (TDC) could examine the issue if tourism businesses find that red ride is keeping people away, CVB marketing manager Susan Estler said.

"Anything that threatens the area as far as marketing the destination, there’s a possibility of considering," she said.

"I think red tide’s kept a lot of Florida people away who know about it," Anna Maria Mayor SueLynn said. "Throughout the summer, that’s where our primary visitors are from. I’ve heard resort people say they have people come in and leave the next day. The TDC should be doing something, there’s no question."

It would be a tricky proposition because a hurricane is a one-time event, while red tide can come and go, TDC member Sandy Haas-Martens said.

"You can advertise, then it could be back," she said, adding that after Hurricane Katrina churned up the Gulf of Mexico, red tide reappeared off Anna Maria Island after giving beachgoers a brief break.

Holmes Beach Mayor Carol Whitmore doesn’t think the TDC should use funds for red tide-related advertising.

"Until it goes away, we can’t really ask tourists to come," she said.

The current red tide hasn’t been here long enough to consider such a measure, said Ed Chiles, a TDC member, Island restaurant owner and chairman of Solutions To Avoid Red Tide (START).

"If this was to continue and we felt we needed to go with a marketing campaign, then it would be appropriate, but we’re not there yet," he said. "I’m not sure what that break point is. In 1995-96, the red tide lasted 11 months and 22 days, and we’re approaching eight or nine months now, off and on."

START has been working for 10 years to raise awareness of the red tide problem, and now people are listening, he said, adding that START provides seed money to Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota and other organizations studying red tide. CVB funds cannot be spent on red tide research because of state and county requirements, Estler said.

"The outbreak we’ve endured has brought a lot of attention to the need for resources to be directed," Chiles said. "We plan to use that as we go into the next funding cycle to mobilize resources to get people to see that this is a serious issue that needs a long term approach."

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Tourists, residents enjoy hatchling release

By Laurie Krosney
sun staff writer

Visitors from Canada, Russia, Germany, Bradenton, Michigan and New York joined Turtle Watch volunteers and Island residents on Aug.31 to watch 103 hatchlings scramble to the sea.

"Those turtles are so cute," said 9-year-old Adrianna Maurtius who was visiting the Island from her home near Munich. Her mom had to translate, as the Adrianna doesn't speak English yet.

Kids surrounded the bucket of hatchlings that had been found in several nests that had already hatched.

"We always excavate the nests after a hatching," explained Suzi Fox, director of Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch. "We generally find a couple of stragglers in the nest, and it's safest for them to be gathered together and released as a group."

Volunteers also count the eggs in the nest — those that hatched and those that didn't. This happens across the state, and the numbers are reported to the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Only about one turtle out of every thousand hatchlings lives long enough to reach reproductive age, so sea turtle preservation people around the world do all they can to give the babies a leg up.

Scientists are discovering that hatchlings do best if the scramble directly to the sea from their nests. There seems to be some sort of imprinting and a setting of an internal radar that can only be set by emerging from the birth location and heading to the sea, according to some studies released by the scientists.

All 103 hatchlings made it safely to the sea.

Gas shortage and cost
The Turtle Watch volunteer base is feeling the pinch of the economic effects of Hurricane Katrina.

"We've lost several volunteers who drive from out east to walk a section each week," she said. "The cost of gas is just too great and then when they get out here, they can't always find anywhere to fill up their tanks."

Fox said Barb and Ray Wize drove 35 miles to get here to volunteer and then 35 miles back to go to work.

"They've been faithful volunteers, and we'll miss everybody," she said. "Local volunteers will double up and fill in for them."

Kudos to the lifeguards
All the lifeguards are wonderful friends to the turtles and to the volunteers, according to Suzi Fox.

"Whenever there's a hatchling, a stranding, a problem, they call me right away," she said. "These lifeguards have life saving bred right into them, and it doesn't matter what kind of life — people, turtles, anything. If something needs rescuing, they rescue.

The latest call came from Collin Schmidt.

"I was out on the beach, and I got a call on my home phone asking me to call Collin," Fox said. "He said it was an urgent situation, so I called right back. Gary Newberg, a young teen, had approached a marked nest to have a peek. He noticed a couple of hatchlings peeking out."

Fox said the two came out of the nest alive, and she and Newberg then excavated the nest to check on any remaining hatchlings and to make a count of the eggs.

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