Projects take proactive step on HAB

The city of Sanibel is working on obtaining a field permit from the state for two pilot programs aimed at removing red drift algae and the nutrients associated with it from local shorelines and waters.

At the April 2 meeting of the Sanibel City Council, Mayor Kevin Ruane and Natural Resources Director James Evans reported that the city had received proposals for the two projects. At the time, Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach were seeing high accumulations of red drift algae on their shores.

"Sanibel's general approach is to let nature take its course," Evans said on April 18. "That's generally how we manage our beaches."

But, with major imbalances in the system such as harmful algae blooms like red ride and red drift algae, the occurrences can contribute nutrients into the water and on beaches and continue to fuel the events. He noted that nitrogen and phosphorus are two of the main nutrients associated with them.

"We're trying to mitigate future impacts," Evans said of the pilot projects.