Red Tide

Nitrate fertilizer runoff into coastal waters have created the largest algae bloom the world has ever seen. It’s a third the size of Louisiana. The bloom creates hundreds of square miles of dead or dying fish poisoned by toxins as it depletes dissolved oxygen in the water. The algae create dense, visible red colored patches near the water’s surface. The patches coalesce into a giant blanket covering the sea from horizon to horizon. The toxins become aerosolized by the action of waves and wind, creating an invisible but toxic cloud hovering above the sea surface.

And, it’s drifting on ocean currents directly towards the tourist mecca of the Mexico-Texas coast.