driven back to his boat by the stench 

 of thousands of rotting fish upon the 

 beach. He mentioned a large variety 

 of dead fish and many he could not 

 identify. He found the same species 

 at Gadsden Point. He saw only a few 

 dead fish at Tannpa, principally gars 

 and catfish. His summary is: 



"1. The dead fish were most nu- 

 merous on the outside beaches and on 

 the inside beaches of the outer line of 

 keys. 



"2. That dead fish were least nu- 

 nnerous about the mouths of creeks and 

 rivers, decreasing gradually as one 

 approached such places. 



"3. That the poisoned water was not 

 diffused generally, but ran in streams 

 of various sizes, as proven by fish 

 dying in vast numbers instamtly upon 

 reaching such localities. 



"4. That the fish were killed by a 

 specific poison, as proven by the sick- 

 ness and death of birds which ate of 

 the dead fish. 



"5. The fish began dying on the out- 

 side beaches first, as Mr. Stramd, 

 assistant light-keeper at Egmont, re- 

 ports them coming up first on the 17th 

 of October, while Mrs. Hoy observed 

 them first on the 1st or 2d of November, 

 at Little Manatee River. 



"6. The examination of m amy hundred 

 recently-dead fish revealed no signs 

 of disease. The colors were bright, 

 the flesh firm, and the gills rosy. The 

 stomach and intestines appeared 

 healthy, [p. 106.] 



"In my haste I have neglected to state 

 that I saw a good many dead birds 

 during the trip. At Tampa, ducks were 

 dying. I saw dead vultures at Anna Maria 

 Key, and at Passage Key, large flocks 

 of cormorants were sick amd dying. I 

 also saw the carcasses of terns, gulls, 

 and frigate birds. The cormorants sat 

 on the beach with their heads under 

 their wings, and could be approached 

 and handled." [p. 106-107.] 



He appended statements by several 

 witnesses: 



"The fish began dying about the last 

 of October here [Point Pinellas] . . . 

 When a school of mullet get into water 

 covered by this black scum, they die 

 at once. Oysters are affected by this 

 also, amd those who eat of them are 

 made very sick. 



"The oyster saloons here were obliged 

 to close, as the oysters came near 

 killing several people. 



"The fish began dying here [Little 

 Manatee] about the first of Novem- 

 ber ... A few days after the fish begam 

 dying I had a quart of fine oysters for 



dinner." He amd his daughter ate the 

 oysters and were both sick, but a 

 visitor amd his servant who did not 

 eat oysters were not affected. 



Two men who owned a fishing smack 

 with a live well stated, "The poisoned 

 water runs in streaks, for often when 

 three or four smacks are in company 

 one or two will lose all their fish in a 

 few minutes, while others, a short dis- 

 tance off, lose none." 



The keeper of Egmont Light said first 

 dead fish appeared on October 17, later 

 ducks, and other sea birds. 



WEBB, JOHN G. 



1887. 5. --The mortality of fish in the Gulf 

 of Mexico. U.S. Fish Connm., Bull. 

 6:11-13. 



This reference is of no significance. 



WENNEKENS, M. P. 



1959. Water mass properties of the Straits 

 of Florida and related waters. Bull. 

 Mar. Sci. Gulf Carib. 9(l):l-52. 



Gives a diagram of the general cur- 

 rent system of the eastern Gulf. 



WHITELEGGE, THOMAS. 



1891. On the recent discolouration of the 

 waters of Port Jackson. Rec. Aust. Mus., 

 Sydney, 1(9): 179-192. 



A mass mortality caused by Gleno- 

 dinium rub rum occurred in March 1890, 

 at Port Jackson, Australia, during hot 

 weather following heavy rainfall. The 

 orgamism occurred in streaks or 

 patches. It caused great devastation 

 annong oysters. 



WILSON, WILLIAM B. 



1955. Laboratory studies of Gymnodinium 

 brevis . Address to American Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science, 

 14 p. [Mimeographed.] 



In first attempts to culture G. breve , 

 orgamisms failed to grow (reproduce ?) 

 amd reacted as though most media were 

 toxic. Addition of a metal chelator 

 (EDTA-Na) helped but still only 40 

 percent success was attained. The dif- 

 ficulty was chiefly with proper washing 

 amd sterilization of the test tubes. 



Good growth resulted from 175 ft.-c. 

 (foot-candles) for 15 hours per day, but 

 not from 150 ft.-c. nnaintained continu- 

 ously. Eight hours at 175 ft.-c. were 

 insufficient. Cloud cover could be a 

 limiting factor. 



G. breve survived 1 hour at 34° C. 

 but cytolized at 35° C. When temperature 



72 



