Red tide taking out larger fish, lingering in Lee

More dead fish are washing up on local beaches as a persistent red tide bloom festers in coastal Lee County waters.

Recent measurements have shown some areas here have 1 million or more cells per liter of red tide (Karenia brevis). That's more than enough red tide cells to cause fish, marine mammal and sea turtle kills and for the bloom to be detectable from space.

John Cassani, with Calusa Waterkeeper, said his group ran into several dead fish in different areas of south Lee over the weekend.

"(Some of our members) were out in Estero Bay (Sunday) and saw eight adult black drum, floaters, somewhere near San Carlos Pass," Cassani said. "Another reported them behind Junkanoo (on the Beach) restaurant. And we had a report of 25 miles offshore, seeing black drum and red drum. And we got one (report) about six or eight dead grouper on Fort Myers Beach, so something is going on."