Shocking news that the State of Florida has issued a state of emergency for the annual red tide event happening in the southwestern portion of west Florida. What makes this event so unusual? It sounds inaccurate to suggest that this has been going on for 10 months. It’s doubtful that we had a K. brevis prevalence worth noting before the water temperatures got above 85 degrees. According to one news outlet funding will go to Pinellas in addition to affected counties. Pinellas hasn’t had red tide at all this summer, and we were surfing just three days ago without any red tide. With funding in place what type of uses will it go towards? It’s likely that it will be spent on discretionary expenditures, cleanup, things of that nature, when in reality we should be putting the money into prevention. Check out the red tide state of emergency declaration.