Red Tide Bloom Hits Texas Coast

Aerial Photograph of Red Tide bloom off the Texas Coast.  Photograph courtesy of David Buzin and Texas Parks and Wildlife

The coast of Texas has been experiencing a serious red tide bloom during the last two weeks of August.  Discolored water and fish kills were first observed about August 10 on the north Texas coast.  Laboratory analysis confirmed the presence of the toxic red tide algae.  The following week, additional blooms were observed near Corpus Christi and near the Rio Grande River.  

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is providing regular updates on the status of the bloom on their Web site:  http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fish/recreat/tideup.htm.  The Center for Space Research has worked with the Naval Research Laboratory at Stennis, Mississippi, to provide remotely sensed imagery from the SeaWiFS and NOAA AVHRR sensors as an aid in mapping the extent of the bloom. 

Images:

	SeaWiFS Chlorophyll-a
August 6, 2000
August 17, 2000
August 31, 2000
September 5, 2000
September 29, 2000
October 2, 2000
October 4, 2000
October 5, 2000
October 6, 2000
October 11, 2000
October 12, 2000
October 13, 2000
October 23, 2000
October 24, 2000
October 26, 2000
October 30, 2000
October 31, 2000

During the red tide bloom, some MODIS imagery has also been acquired over red tide bloom.  The following image was acquired by the University of Wisconsin and processed by SeaSpace Corporation in San Diego.  Data are being acquired from the EOSDIS Gateway as it becomes available.  

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