--- description: “It can kill fish by the millions" title: Red Tide Algae Threatens Florida Beaches image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf57830ce6d07936c/69869f4d35ba6ff8ecc0363c/140812-red-tide-florida-1009_0_a76f3c882a1c36758a7fc73e57fdde20.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Environment](/tag/environment/) ## Environment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Massive 'Red Tide' Threatens Florida Beaches by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 12, 2014 8:57 PM CUT  NBC News by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 12, 2014 8:57 PM CUT A toxic red tide, the biggest in nearly a decade, is threatening tourism and endangered manatees as it moves down the Florida coast. The culprit is _Karenia brevis_, [microscopic algae ](http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/huge-red-tide-algae-bloom-could-move-ashore-florida-n175506 "undefined")that explode in numbers when the conditions are right, usually in late summer or early fall. “These kinds of blooms damage wildlife, people, tourism, everything,” Don Anderson, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, told NBC News. “It can kill fish by the millions.” The current red tide bloom is around 20 miles off the southwestern coast of Florida, too far away to bother beachgoers, at least for now… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/massive-red-tide-threatens-florida-beaches-n178661?cid=par-time-article%5F20140812 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3105053/red-tide-florida-beaches-algae-karenia-brevis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3105053/red-tide-florida-beaches-algae-karenia-brevis/"},"headline":"Massive 'Red Tide' Threatens Florida Beaches","datePublished":"2014-08-12T20:57:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:38:05.054Z","description":"“It can kill fish by the millions\"","url":"https://time.com/3105053/red-tide-florida-beaches-algae-karenia-brevis/","keywords":["Environment"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf57830ce6d07936c/69869f4d35ba6ff8ecc0363c/140812-red-tide-florida-1009_0_a76f3c882a1c36758a7fc73e57fdde20.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf57830ce6d07936c/69869f4d35ba6ff8ecc0363c/140812-red-tide-florida-1009_0_a76f3c882a1c36758a7fc73e57fdde20.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"140812-red-tide-florida-1009_0_a76f3c882a1c36758a7fc73e57fdde20","caption":"","creditText":"NBC News","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3105053/red-tide-florida-beaches-algae-karenia-brevis/","name":"Massive 'Red Tide' Threatens Florida Beaches"}}]}] ```