Tag Archives: Lake Okeechobee
Fishermen protest chemical spraying in Lake Okeechobee
“As far as people go, it’s polluting the water. As far as animals go, it’s killing off the wildlife,” said Jim Watt, a former animal dealer. Fishermen and other lake locals say FWC chemical spraying is killing plants, animals, and their way of life. “They’re getting doused with this poison and they’re losing habitat and all the baitfish are sick, your birds, your catfish, all your other fish are eating this sick bait, living in this habitat with chemicals on it,” said Fisherman Eric Cassels. The FWC says all of the chemicals being sprayed are deemed safe, but people who spend all their time on the water disagree. photos, video, >click to read< 08:19
Lake Okeechobee – More bad water? We hope not
Here we go again. Large amounts of polluted water from Lake Okeechobee are beginning to flow into the Caloosahatchee. This is harmful fresh water and is the result of a need to drop the lake level because of unprecedented rain amounts. It is water filled with the wrong kind of nutrients and phosphorous. It can create suffocating algae blooms, killing sea grass and marine life. It can impact tourism. No one wants to fish, swim or look at ugly water. Read the rest here 14:24
Water managers race to drain rising Lake Okeechobee risking wide spread damage to estuaries
The Corps could begin sending as much as 4.9 billion gallons of water — about 7,400 Olympic swimming pools — daily into the St. Lucie river on the east coast. Even more would be released into the larger Caloosahatchee on the west coast. Such massive dumps in the past have caused widespread damage to the estuaries at the mouths of the rivers, where seagrass beds and oysters can’t tolerate such high amounts of freshwater. Already, a brown plume has spread off the coast of Sanibel. The last time so much water was released, in 2013 and following a 1998 El Niño, fish kills and dead sea life lasted for months, infuriating local communities. Read the rest here 11:19
Does this fish look like a piranha to you?
Bryton Shockley, a commercial fisherman, was out on Florida’s Lake Okeechobee when he reeled in a creature that caused him to wonder, “is that … a piranha?” Florida wildlife officials took a look at photos of Schockley’s fish — a toothy creature with a red belly — and they believe it’s a pacu, a relative of the ravenous piranha. Pacu can be kept in aquariums and are sometimes illegally dumped into local waters when they grow too large for their tanks. Video, Read the rest here 18:24
