MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. -- Enough is enough for beach goers, business owners and marine lovers along the coast.
- Businesses suffering from red tide issues
- Residents asked to unite Sunday morning on beaches statewide
- Beach lovers remain on edge
- RELATED stories:
Red tide has made beaches along the Bay Area somewhat of a ghost town.
And now, there is a state-wide effort to stand against what's happening. It will be held Sunday morning.
Bunny Pirate co-owner Elizabeth Shore said recent business has been "not good. Not good at all."
In nearly an hour Spectrum News spent at the store right off Cortez Road, not one customer walked into the store.
"Right now it's just dead," Shore said.
It's not just business that's gone. More and more marine life shows up on the shore every day.
"Oh man, rotten, not fresh, kind of like you want to take a big breath of the beach, and you can't," tourist Angela Rigeon said of the smell.
In a community that runs on tourism, Shore knew she needed to do something, such as leading the 'Hands Along the Water' on the island demonstration.
"It has no political agenda. It's a neutral way to say this is not OK. We need to do something about this. We need to be heard. We're not going away," Shore said.
People are asked to join along the beaches by 10 a.m. Sunday across the state.
At 10:15 a.m. everyone is asked to raise their arms as an expression that everyone is standing together for clean waterways.
Until the beaches go back to normal, many business owners and beach lovers will continue to be on edge.
"I don't think a lot of people are getting a lot of good night's sleep right now," Shore said.