State officials said Friday that most of the fish that were in dangerous areas have already died and washed ashore. But Buzan said the algae bloom, which has left red patches of water from here to Matagorda Bay, was still lingering offshore. To counter the bloom, it will either take harsh winds or a strong current to sweep the tide from the area. Various biologists made helicopter flights over the region this week and collected water samples from nearby Laguna Madre. As the wind whips across the water, it blows an aerosol toward the shore, leaving many folks along the beach with hacking coughs, watery eyes and a raw feeling in their throats and chests.
Stores report a run on throat lozenges, and people seemed to be coughing everywhere.
I woke up this morning and felt like I couldn't breathe. Still, a lucky cadre seem largely unfazed by the air, and small groups of visitors managed to sunbathe and wade in the surf here this week in spite of the latest infestation. Along another stretch of sand a man walked along the shore with a small child riding on his shoulders. While the city of South Padre Island keeps crews roaming the beaches to scoop up fish, a few miles up the beach and outside city limits, thousands of dead fish and eels were splayed out. There were speckled trout, redfish, mullet and even croakers as far as the eye could see.