Red Tide in Gulf Shores, Alabama

Red tide is a natural phenomenon that occurs when temperature, salinity, and nutrients reach a certain level, resulting in a higher than normal concentration of a certain type of algae (Karenia brevis). The exact formula is unknown, but it is known to occur when the temperature is high and rainfall and wind is low.

The outbreak doesn't have to be red in color. It can appear green, brown, or purple. The water might even retain its normal color.

One is most likely to occur in the Gulf Shores, Alabama, area during the summer or early fall.

Unless the surf is rough and pushing salt spray into the air, people enjoying the beach will probably not even know that an outbreak is in their vicinity.

Most beach tourists have never heard of the phenomenon until they experience one, and then they worry whether it is dangerous. Symptoms include sneezing, tearing, coughing, and eye, nose, and throat irritation. Contact with red tide might remind the tourist of the last cold or allergic reaction he experienced. Symptoms usually subside once leaving the affected beach.

Red tide is nothing but a discomfort to otherwise healthy people, but it is inadvisable to "stick it out." If the beach you usually enjoy is affected, find another beach or even move to a protected water. This is especially good advice for those with respiratory conditions like emphysema or asthma.

Particularly bad outbreaks can kill fish, sometimes millions of them. Most of the fish killed are small "bait fish," but sometimes larger fish like hardhead catfish and flounder wash up dead on the beaches. Often it is the dead fish that drive tourists from the beaches. Thousands of dead fish on the beach is unpleasant, at best.

Caution should be exercised walking barefoot around dead, larger fish.

More Gulf Shores Alabama Photos

Gulf Shores Beach Photos

Kids having a good time jet skiing near Perdido Pass at Orange Beach.


Trolling near Perdido Pass, Orange Beach.





We didn't go deep sea fishing this week, but we did visit the marinas to see what others caught. The best time to see the charter boats come in is about 2 PM. Here is a good catch of red snapper. The biggest fish we saw come off the boats was a 140 lb tuna.




This rod is waiting for a fish. If it's a real big one the rod might get yanked into the sea before the owner can grab it. Seen that happen. Even lost one myself.




Kathy with our son Chris and his cousin Cindy talking it easy at the pool.




There's always kites flying on the beach. Some beach lovers fly them for hours. This one is pretty creative - a hammerhead shark.




Brown Pelicans are common on the Alabama Gulf Coast. They fly in formation.




Sunset over Terry Cove

Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Alabama

We visited Gulf Shores and Orange Beach on the Alabama Gulf Coast this weekend. I needed some photos for my new site. The weather was a lot better there than it was here. So, off we went.

The State of Alabama is constantly replenishing the beaches with sand. When we first began spending a lot of time on the Alabama Coast in the early 1990's, sand dunes covered with sea oats were plentiful. Hurricanes and tropical storms coming in, one right after the other, has pretty much wiped them from the beach. Dredging and spreading has put thousands of tons of sand on the beach, but the dunes are slow to build. They usually get leveled before they are strong enough to hold up against even weak tropical storms. Fences like these are strung out across the beach to hold the sand in place long enough for vegetation to build the dunes from the bottom, up.



Hurricane forecasters are predicting a strong hurricane season this year. If that's the case, and they come ashore anywhere near Gulf Shores, what little dunes have been built will be swept out to sea yet again.

Until we began building out the beaches it was impossible to lose them. They just moved from one place to the other. Now we've plunked down billion dollar developments on the sand and decided nature should stay still.








Because our trip would be short, I didn't take my rods this time. Winter isn't the best time for surf fishing, but if you sit long enough something will hit - in January, usually whiting.



While I was taking pictures, Kathy was picking up shells.




Yes, believe it or not, people actually surf in Alabama. Here's a surfing family.



This one's caught a wave, albeit one that won't be confused with the smallest waves in Waikiki. The Alabama surf can get rough though, a lot rougher than most people think. While some coastal residents have moved inland to higher ground before a hurricane's landfall, others are hitting the beach with their surfboards.





The Perdido Pass Bridge is a favorite place to fish in winter.



The dolphin cruises guarantee that you will see a dolphin. That's an easy guarantee. Dolphins are always in the back bays. This one is in Terry Cove.



No problem finding a brown pelican either. Hard to believe that these birds were almost extinct at the early part of the last century. All big coastal birds were almost wiped out to put feathers in the hats of stylish women.



Mardi Gras trees have been catching on at the coast. Businesses and restaurants just take down the Christmas lights and out up Mardi Gras colored ornaments. I imagine there are some homeowners who do the same.



This is advertised as being the biggest Ferris Wheel in the southeast. It is at the Wharf, a new development in Orange Beach on the Intracoastal Canal at the toll bridge. We took a ride on it before the development was officially open. You can see all the way to the beach from the top.



The Wharf has been open a little over two years. Since Orange Beach doesn't have a city center, this was supposed to be it. There is shopping, movies, restaurants, entertainment, a marina, condos on the canal and even a amphitheater. Its taking off slow, largely due to the real estate crash. The poor (putting it mildly) economy isn't going to help it either.

Lagoon Pass - Gulf Shores Alabama

We spent Friday through Tuesday on the Alabama Coast. The purpose of the visit was to help my parents move from one condo to another. We were able to spend a little time on the beach and a little less fishing, but the trip was a nice change of pace. We lived on the Alabama Coast for eleven years, in five different homes, before we moved back to McCalla last year. It was a nice place to live, but running from hurricanes gets tiresome. Hurricane Ivan put 18 inches of water in our home and Katrina came up to our doorstep.

We lived at Lagoon Pass for a couple years. We traded our condo on the beach for the beach home. Living on Little Lagoon with the Gulf just across the street was nice for awhile. I could decide to go fishing on the spur-of-the-moment and be wading in the Gulf 10 minutes later. But the house was almost imposible to get warm enough in the winter or cool enough in the summer. There was also constant upkeep; beach homes take a beating from the wind, salt air and heat. The there was Hurricane Danny that blew half our roofing off and put two days of rain in our living room and kitchen. It can never be said that living on the beach is dull.





We always saw great blue herons, brown pelicans, and other birds from our back deck. The occasional sea turtle would swim in, and once we watched a pair of river otters play.

Lagoon Pass has changed a lot since we lived there. The seawall has been extended into the Gulf and sand has been addred on both sides. The cement wall where I sat waiting on a redfish to take my bait has been removed, and tons of sand has been added to the beach.







Mullet netting fishermen travel through the pass in small boats to fish the coast. Mullet will not take bait that most fish like. The vast majority are netted from boats such as this one. Fisherman also use cast nets from banks, docks, and seawalls. The seawall at Little Lagoon Pass is very productive during certain times of the year.



Redfish, bluefish, flounder, Spanish mackerel, whiting, speckled trout, white trout and pompaano are some of the species that can be caught here.



Fisherman with oil rig in background. Hundreds of oil rigs dot the Alabama Coast.



Here's a treasure hunter with an underwater metal detector.



This fisherman has caught a big flounder. It is a little early for the flounder to be hitting really good here. As the night's grow colder, they will move from Little Lagoon through the Pass and into the Gulf. During the month of November, thousands will be caught in the Pass.

For more information on Lagoon pass, see my Squidoo Lens:

http://www.squidoo.com/lagoonpass