ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Red tide fish kills continue to plague a large part of the Pinellas coast, even as county officials have multiple crews out cleaning up the mess.
The city is working to clean up the mess and has collected over 613 tons of dead fish so far, according to a Tuesday afternoon updated. Earlier Tuesday, Mayor Rick Kriseman said on Twitter the number was 477 tons.
Kriseman will address the massive fish kill Wednesday morning during a 10 a.m. news conference.
For two weeks, waves of dead fish have washed ashore along downtown St. Petersburg and Coquina Key, as well as Ft. DeSoto, Boca Ciega Bay and near Treasure Island and South Pasadena, plaguing residents with the intolerable stench.
City officials say over 100 miles of coastline have been impacted, with the worst areas being along the east and southeast coast of St. Pete — Tierra Verde to Gandy Blvd.
On Monday, St. Petersburg City Council member Darden Rice tweeted that three contracted boats were out cleaning up fish and that the county would provide two shrimp boats to aid in the cleanup.
City officials say they have more than 120 employees working daily to remove the dead fish from the waterways, which is delaying other non-essential services like roadway mowing, tree trimming, pothole repair, etc.
The city is also exploring options to bring in outside contractors to assist with fish retrieval.
If you need to dispose of dead fish, you can drop them off at one of these seven dumpster sites:
- Crisp Park
- Flora Wylie Park
- Lassing Park
- Demen’s Landing Park
- Grande View Park
- Bay Vista Park
- Maximo Park