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my dog :) his name is Maui.

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She’s rude but that’s fine. Her name is Jade. Only way for her to actually fully respect you and listen to everything you say is with a treat

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The

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Playing sports has many benefits. Those include keeping people healthy, fit, and help to boost self confidence on and off the field. 

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Playing sports has many benefits. Those include keeping people healthy, fit, and help to boost self confidence on and off the field. 

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Red tides and how we can make a difference.

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Red tides and how we can make a difference.

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Recently we had heavy down pour and each time any inch of rain comes to the south we cause our trash and pollutions to take over the seas around and kill all wild sea life, this has been happening for years and we have to put a end to it before we lose multiple species of sea creatures.

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Over the past couple of weeks, fish kills and terrible water quality conditions invaded Tampa Bay, Florida. Chances are you saw the environmental carnage making the rounds on social media over the weekend. Well, if you didn't, it wasn't pretty-excavators scooping thousands of pounds of dead fish, dead tarpon, high concentrations of red tide, and it's all likely to worsen as water temperatures keep rising and the rainy season progresses.

500+ tons of dead marine life picked up in St. Petersburg as of July 14, according to the Tampa Bay Times

Hurricane Elsa made landfall in Florida last Wednesday, dumping almost 11 inches of rain in some regions of Florida. Elsa's high winds and heavy rains were a recipe for disaster and created the perfect conditions for the devastating fish kills and red tides we're now witnessing. You may remember an article earlier this summer, Florida Water Quality Outlook 2021: Brace For Impact, where we spoke with the folks over at Captains for Clean Water. "What we have now ," said Daniel Andrews back at the end of May, "is a dining room table with a bunch of breakable plates and glasses, and someone is getting ready to do the tablecloth trick. Sure, it could end well; but more than likely, most of the items will be shattered."

By the looks of it, the party trick was not successful, and things may get a lot worse. Whenever there is a big rain, and storm surge for that matter, large amounts of nutrient pollution enter waterways. Those excess nutrients are a big component of the ongoing Tampa Bay situation. The nutrients fuel red tide (karenia brevis) and other harmful algal blooms, which in turn lead to fish kills and have serious human impacts, as well.

Currently, Tampa Bay and St. Petersburg have the highest red tide concentrations on Florida's west coast. That may or may not be a coincidence. Back in April, more than 200 million gallons of nutrient laden industrial wastewater was pumped directly into Tampa Bay, in an attempt to avert a full collapse of the containment reservoir. The Piney Point event brought national attention and outrage to Florida's water crisis, but little substantive action was taken and authorities and the state began the waiting game.

Now that water temperatures are nearing 90 degrees and rainfall runoff is increasing, Tampa and its surrounding areas are bracing for the full effect of poor water quality, and many are already calling it the worst it's ever been.

A Emergency Response manager with the city of St. Pete, Florida, provided an update on the current situation last Friday: "As far as what I'm hearing, we're seeing larger fish kills than what we saw in 2018. But it seems to be concentrated in the St. Petersburg area." The 2018 red tide season was particularly devastating for the entire state of Florida-that red tide inflicted more than $8 million in business losses and killed more than 200 tons of marine life.

Tampa Bay fly fishing guide, Captain Dustin Pack, said that he's "never experienced a fish kill to this magnitude in Tampa Bay. It's the worst I've ever seen it." What's particularly concerning with this red tide event are the type of fish dying. In the past couple of days, Dustin received pictures of a 5′ hammerhead shark and a Cobia floating dead-those are strong fish that normally do not succumb to red tide. In addition, "if tarpon are dying it's bad. If they can't withstand the water quality by breathing air, it's really bad."

None of this is new. Red tide is naturally occurring. However, it's greatly intensified by human-caused factors, mainly nutrient pollution. For this reason, Dustin added "I believe calling it red tide gives the entities responsible (i.e. Piney Point, the state of Florida, golf courses, over fertilized yards) a scape goat."

In addition to being a full time fly fishing guide, Dustin is a board member for Tampa Bay Water Keeper, and "[they're] working hard to make sure those who are responsible are held accountable." Unfortunately, nothing can be done in the short-term; you can't just clean billions of gallons of estuary water. You have to fix it at the source, which means addressing the nutrients entering the waterways and restoring the natural flow of water. The reality is that nothing can be done to avoid whatever is going to happen at this point. But, Dustin is hoping that these jarring images produce some national attention to bring more awareness and advocacy to fixing these long-term issues. One way you can help achieve that is by calling the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (800-636-0511) and bring more attention to this ongoing issue. Ultimately, if FWC doesn't get involved, none of this is getting to Governor DeSantis.

Photos courtesy of Capt. Dustin Pack

Florida Water Quality Outlook 2021: Brace for Impact

Piney Point, Industrial Waste Disaster-Here's What You Need to Know

Will Poston has been with us here at Flylords since 2017 and is now our Conservation Editor. Will focuses on high-profile conservation issues, such as Pebble Mine, the Clean Water Act rollbacks, recovering the Pacific Northwest's salmon and steelhead, and everything in-between. Will is from Washington, DC, and you can find him fishing on the tidal Potomac River in Washington, DC or chasing striped bass and Albies up and down the East Coast-and you know, anywhere else he can find a good bite!

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Tampa Bay Fish Kills, "Worst I've Ever Seen" - Flylords Mag

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Over the past couple of weeks, fish kills and terrible water quality conditions invaded Tampa Bay, Florida. Chances are you saw the environmental carnage making the rounds on social media over the weekend.

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There should be more of a focus of mental health, especially in school and society, especially because a lot of people struggle with mental illnesses. Less focus, doesn't allow for peoples struggles to be heard and understood. Nobody has perfect mental health, but the more it's talked about and focused on, the more people can learn about it and work on improving their mental health.

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Greatness

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Somedays you might feel like its not the best day, whether its because of a problem you had or just because its a gloomy day. It's important to focus on this because without you being good mentally , you won't perform as good.

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I think getting an education and going to school is important for everyone but I think it’s important for teachers to remember that students are still people and can’t work nonstop for every class because it is unhealthy and stressful.

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Schools have to be more flexible in how students can learn and what they learn

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yes

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The disappearing class...Should it be reincorporated?

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Should there be more focus on mental health in school and society?

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The benefits of sports

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Should there be more opportunities for arts in school?

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Arts Integration In School: 10 Reasons Why It's Important - Seneca Academy

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At Seneca Academy, arts integration has always been part of our curriculum, whether fine arts, music, drama, or movement.

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What is your opinion on education? Share your opinions and thoughts about this topic.