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Old 04-08-2009, 08:50   #31
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Just a thought...

During periods of exceptional rainfall—as we have had in mid-Florida during the last several weeks—there is, of course, an exceptionally high-level of run-off. (The other day for example, areas of Pinellas County had 4” of rain within a just a few hours.) And, Florida's many bogs, swamps and other low-lying areas that routinely hold ground water accumulations, even when there is only modest rainfall, accumulate dissolved minerals—and particularly iron and sulfur—as well as tannins from vegetation and, accordingly, take on a very dark tea color, even when there is little sediment in the water. Sudden rainfall over tens of thousands of acres floods this discolored near surface ground water—plus sedimentary run-off—into the creeks and streams where, in short order, it makes its way into the coastal bays and sounds. In addition, of course, is the run-off from streets, roadways and developed areas which transports pollutants into the bays—and particularly fertilizers high in phosphates—which contribute to the algae blooms as previously noted. Whereas our tide’s are relatively limited in Florida (±2’), there isn’t much flushing action to dilute this run-off, hence these bay waters are more or less permanently discolored and opaque, though less so during periods of drought. Moreover, due to the fact that rain, by it’s nature, is cold and, because of the shear volume, doesn’t have much time to take-up much heat before it runs off, it tends to sits on the surface feeling “cold”. In the Key’s, Bahamas and other areas where the land area relative to the sea surface area is minimal, the water is, of course, quite clear and, except during period of deluge, feels quite warm.
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Old 09-08-2009, 03:34   #32
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we wgot this in our area to (plankton) anyway I d like to say that some people have big horns (dont like those to much) <devil wise:-)^^&I_&&^^& enyway
have enthing melbourne have to AUSTRALIA or is it just plain old Floridian ML :-)
Lots of all big terefere ahoj
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Old 09-08-2009, 07:46   #33
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Was it not the cruise ships dumping garbage as they entered the Mediterranean,attracting sharks to follow them in?
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Old 09-08-2009, 08:25   #34
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As a long time scuba diver and former resident of Melbourne, Fl, I can tell you that this phenomenon is not new and occurred regularly during the 1960s. This was a time when we had no cruise ships at Port Canaveral and only a few in south Florida. The speculation about upwelling is well founded. When diving off shore from the Melbourne area south to Ft Pierce, it was common in the summer to hit a thermocline near the bottom with a lot of suspended particulates (filamentous algae). On occasion a sustained offshore wind would push out the warm surface waters and bring this layer to the surface near the beach. There has recently been a lot of beach renourishment projects going on in the area. I don't know if any are active at the moment but they introduce a tremendous amount of particulates into the water. This could be another source. All the speculation about sewage and runoff can be pretty much discounted. All of the storm sewers and treatment plants in that area empty into the indian river and flow out of sebastian inlet. If you've ever seen the inlet from the air you would note that the outflowing tide tends to turn south. This is probably due in part to the Coriolis effect and the generally southward flowing current close to shore sout of Cape Canaveral to about Ft. Pierce. Outflow here would have little effect on water quality on the ocean side in Melbourne.
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