Salt River - Randy Wayne White

Picked up a Doc Ford novel, Salt River by Randy Wayne White, at Powell's this afternoon. Waiting for my wife, I open the book and start reading the Author's Note and I am just entranced. What he is describing here sounds just like the political arguments we hear about on social media. Shoot, sounds like any controversy. It's so great I've copied the bulk of it here:

Organisms that contribute to destructive algae blooms are found in most water environs, salt and fresh, throughout the world, year around. "Pollutants" they are not. Indeed, the global food chain would collapse without these microorganisms and macro algae. Keep this in mind the next time you read about small quantities of "red tide organisms" found at your local beach. This is not news. The micro flora are always present-and, sadly, so is the hysteria associated with the word "algae."

There isn't much that biologists agree upon regarding harmful algae blooms (HABs) save for a worldwide consensus that the phenomenon, while naturally occurring and massively destructive, can be enhanced by human activities. The degree to which humans cause, or contribute, to these events is at the historic epicenter of disagreements SO passionate that opinions too often have more in common with theology than science.

In this book, the fictional Doc Ford attempts to provide readers with an overview of the subject that is dispassionate and, above all, factual. This was a challenge. As I explained in an editorial I wrote for the Sunday New York Times (September 29, 2018): “During my 50 years on this coast, I've experienced four killer algae blooms as a fishing guide (1974, '82, '96 and 2004). As a novelist, I've researched the subject, yet my understanding lacks the certainty or rage of those newly acquainted with these blooms." [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/29/opinion/sunday/red-tide-florida-tourism.html] (paywall)

In other words, the more I learn, the less likely I am to be persuaded by those whose convictions are unshakable, for they invariably have a financial stake in whatever "solution" they advocate. This includes organized camps representing the phosphate, sugarcane, and agriculture industries as well as low-profile developers who view agriculture as a waste of acreage that would become a goldmine if bulldozed and transformed into golf courses and gated communities.

This is another element to keep in mind when ferreting through arguments regarding the solutions to red tides.

The newer, booming "environmental industry" also has a stake in the controversy. According to Environmental Business International Inc., a publishing and research firm, the industry grew by 4.8 percent in 2017 and produced $370 billion in annual revenue. This amount dwarfs the $10.1 million collected in 2016 by the Everglades Foundation, one of fourteen Florida-based nonprofit organizations that have a vested interest in the causes and effects of harmful algae blooms. I do not doubt the altruistic motives of these groups, nor do I think it unfair to acknowledge a simple fiduciary fact: to survive, to continue their good work, each must motivate the public sector to provide funding.

In this novel, you will meet Mack, the owner of Dinkin's Bay Marina. Mack has strong opinions on this subject. Even the unflappable Marion Ford cannot convince Mack that hysteria mongering has become a dangerously misleading fundraising tool.

For decades, I've collected newspaper accounts and research on algae blooms that date back to the 1800s. My file contains hundreds of clippings, many acquired at Florida libraries, after scanning through reels of microfiche. The historic overview they provide suggests a predictable cycle, and that cycle has not changed much. When acres of dead fish begin to wash ashore, there is a sustained, communal panic. Civic leaders demand action - and an explanation.

A few examples: According to a study issued by the University of Miami in 1955, a series of lethal red tides between 1844 and 1878 were, according to local fishermen, caused by a "poisonous" flow of freshwater from the Everglades into Florida Bay. A December 1918 headline in the Punta Gorda Herald asserted "Seismic Explosion Under Gulf Kills Many Fish Between Boca Grande and Marco." In July 1937, the St. Pete Times suggested that "the discharge of chemicals from freighters at Port Tampa" was to blame for the sudden death of "fish and eels rarely caught." An article in a November 1940 edition of the Fort Myers New-Press claimed that a massive fish kill was the result of a mysterious "subterranean disturbance." A Miami Herald article, dated February 1954, referenced the devastating red tides of 1947-50, and reported that scientists had traced the cause to excessive amounts of phosphorus found in the Peace River. A year later, in February 1955, the News-Press, under the optimistic headline "Red Tide Seen Under Control in Three Years," cited a study that concluded that phosphate had nothing to do with red tide, then reassured readers that "government scientists" had discovered that dusting algae blooms with copper sulphate (sic) was an 1 inexpensive and effective solution. 

Problem solved? Of course not, and it is ironic to note that, as recently as 1989, the idea of dusting algae outbreaks was revisited - but with phosphatic clay, a residue produced by Florida's controversial phosphate industry. 

I posted a couple of pages about another of White's books: Cuba Straits. Page 1 here. Page 2 here.