Algae bloom in Lake Tarpon outfall canal causes large fish kill

OLDSMAR — An algae bloom of unknown origin has killed what a Pinellas County official described Thursday as "thousands and thousands" of fish in an outfall canal between Lake Tarpon and the northern reaches of Tampa Bay.

The algae bloom near Oldsmar appears to have absorbed much of the oxygen in the water in that area, suffocating thousands of juveniles of a type of fish known as menhaden.

"The menhaden are the only ones that have been affected," said Kelli Hammer Levy, director of the county's environmental management division.

The first calls to the state's fish kill hotline came in over the Fourth of July weekend. When officials from the county and the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission checked it out Tuesday, they found the water in the canal near Curlew Road was very low in oxygen.

The bloom and fish kill occurred near the Gull Aire Village mobile home park on Curlew Road. No one at the park's homeowners association responded to a request for comment.

The algae found in the canal is not the same as the toxic algae bloom now plaguing the state's Atlantic coast, Levy said. That algae bloom has so far not caused a fish kill, although its putrid smell has driven tourists away and residents indoors.