Dead fish wash ashore as toxic red tide drifts toward Tampa Bay

• Recent reports of dead fish at Sarasota's Ken Thompson Park and Lido Beach have city and county officials monitoring the shorelines for emergency cleanup operations.

Why it matters: Beyond widespread fish kills polluting beaches and waterways, toxic red tide can cause respiratory irritation in humans and animals.

• All of which is not fun, and bad for tourism.

Details: Bloom levels of red tide were found last week in samples taken from Lee, Collier, Sarasota and southern Manatee counties, per the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

• Meanwhile, it was observed in lower concentrations in Pinellas County, and it's drifting north into the mouth of Tampa Bay.

The latest: FWC reported Friday that fish kills were observed and respiratory irritation was reported in Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties over the past week.

Between the lines: Scientists say the Karenia brevis bloom is now being fed by nutrients running off the landscape in the wake of Hurricane Ian.

• "I don't see any good evidence that hurricanes initiate a red tide, but once you have a red tide started, runoff will make it worse," Larry Brand, a water quality expert, scientist and professor at the University of Miami, told the Fort Myers News-Press.