"In 1953, Red Tide organisms at the 

 Galveston Laboratory were first cul- 

 tivated artificially. . . ." [p. 6.] 



UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI, MARINE LABORA- 

 TORY, 

 1954. Red tide studies, January to June 

 1954. Prelim. Rep. to Fla. State Bd. 

 Conserv. 54-19, 117 p. 



This report covers many aspects of 

 red-tide research carried out by the 

 Marine Laboratory, but also sum- 

 nnarizes research by other agencies, 

 without specifically mentioning under 

 whose auspices the work was accom- 

 plished. Despite an occasional refer- 

 ence to an outside author, there is no 

 bibliography or list of references cited. 

 Because of this lack of documentation 

 and a list of 1 9 personnel (total of only 

 866 man days, including boat opera- 

 tions), the report is clearly intended 

 (as the title indicates) as merely a 

 progress report. It is stated that, "This 

 report is a preliminary account of the 

 results. Because of the emergency na- 

 ture of the Red Tide problem, and, in 

 order that the data may become imme- 

 diately available to other workers in the 

 field, it has been prepared for a re- 

 stricted distribution without the careful 

 evaluation normally given to scientific 

 reports. For this reason it is in many 

 ways incomplete and all discussions smd 

 conclusions must be considered as ten- 

 tative in nature, subject to re -evaluation 

 as the data receives more careful 

 scrutiny." [p. 3,] 



The report starts with a summary: 



"4. In the course of the work a sur- 

 vey was made of the scientific litera- 

 ture concerning plankton bloonns 

 throughout the world." [p. 1.] This 

 survey has not been published. 



"5. . . . The initial series of fish 

 kills constituting a Red Tide cycle 

 were found to occur most frequently 

 in the month of October and within the 

 dates of the new moon plus or minus 

 three days." [p. 1.] This conclusion 

 is not accepted by us as having been 

 proved. 



"A cycle or series of outbreaks is 

 mostly likely to occur when the amnual 

 rainfall of the Peace River drainage 

 area is above the fifty year average. 

 A correlation also exists between out- 

 breaks and a high maximum annual 

 discharge of the Peace River." [p. 1.] 

 No actual statistical analysis is shown, 

 and the best example shown of high 

 rainfall, in 1947, gives a false im- 

 pression since the 1947 outbreak really 

 started in November 1946, after a long 



dry spell, and quit in September 1947, 

 during the heaviest rainfall, 



"6. The results of hydrographic 

 studies carried out in previous years 

 had demonstrated the presence of Red 

 Tide at the interface between Gulf smd 

 Bay waters. Attempts were made to 

 develop further these relationships, but 

 no evidence was found to substantiate 

 the idea of a more or less continuous 

 front between Gulf and Bay waters along 

 which the Red Tide progresses. It now 

 seems far more probable that a pe- 

 riodic separation of masses of Bay 

 water susceptible to Red Tide takes 

 place at the mouth of the passes and 

 that these masses move with prevailing 

 currents, usually northward, slowly 

 losing their identity by mixing and 

 diffusion with the Gulf Water." [p. 1-2.] 

 We do not accept this latter theory 

 (see Chew, 1953). 



"7. , . , initial fish kills are most 

 active and . . . G_. brevis blooms nnost 

 often originate at the inner side of such 

 passes as Boca Grande. . . ." [p. 2.] 



"10. A study of commercial fish 

 landings fails to reveal any significant 

 decrease in the commercial catch in 

 relation to Red Tide. ... [p. 2.] 



"12. It is strongly recommended that 

 advance planning be undertaken for the 

 control of Red Tide should outbreaks 

 occur in the fall of this or future years. 

 The most practical method of alleviating 

 the damage is consideredto be by seining 

 of dead fish while concentrated in the 

 passes and at sea, before drifting on 

 the beaches. 



"It is considered that chemical con- 

 trol is more expensive and less likely 

 to be successful than the control of dead 

 fish by seining. Nevertheless, it is rec- 

 onnmended that chemiical treatment be 

 applied at the passes at the earliest 

 possible moment of a Red Tide out- 

 break in order to evaluate its useful- 

 ness." [p. 2.] Concerning treatment in 

 passes see Ingle et al. (1959). 



"13. ... it is suggested that attention 

 be paid to the possibility of modifying 

 the nutrient conditions of the Bay waters 

 in such a way as to prevent Red Tide 

 conditions from developing. A large 

 scale fish culture program in the Bays, 

 with the addition possibly of supple- 

 mentary nutrients other thain phosphorus 

 might conceivably be brought about. 

 Under these conditions the nutrient 

 regime and the food chains might con- 

 ceivably be chcLnged so as to minimize 

 the development of conditions suitable 

 to Red Tide." [p. 2.] 



On page 3 it is stated that "During 

 the 1947 outbreak, scientists of the 



70 



