A naturally-occurring algae bloom called red tide is being made worse by human activity and leaving Florida's southwest coast awash in the stench of death as thousands of fish, birds, manatees and dolphins, and even a whale perish in the toxic soup.

"Wildlife is the canary in the coal mine," said Heather Barron, a veterinarian and research director at Sanibel's CROW Clinic wildlife rescue center.  "It's the thing telling us your environment is very unhealthy and as a human species you need to do something about it."

Last October, a hurricane churned up the silt and agricultural run-off crud at the bottom Lake Okeechobee.  The US Army Corps of Engineers released that mess down the river to protect the lake's aging containment berms and dikes, which are in the middle of a repair job.  Soon afterward, the CROW clinic started dealing with dead and sickened sea birds.

"This is horrific what we're enduring now, but it needs to be a wake-up call to people that clean water is important to more than just wildlife," said Dr. Barron, "As the person dealing with all these hundreds of dying animals, I'm upset."

After the birds started dying from eating poison fish, the other animals started to wash up on the beaches and in the marinas that fuel the regions tourism economy.  Hundreds of sea turtles - including endangered species - have been found dead.  Then the manatees, sharks, and even the aforementioned whale.

The K. brevis algae individually appear greenish.  But in high concentrations their photosynthetic pigments often color ocean waters red or brown, earning the name "red tide".  Fed by Lake Okeechobee's crud and incubated in hotter seas because of man-made global warming, and Florida is having its worst red tide since 2006. 

Fishing is right out, as is shellfishing.  Concentrations of algae in some coastal areas have been so high that the National Weather Service (NWS) issued beach hazard advisories over the weekend. 

But breathing near the red tide is also dangerous.  The algae's toxins can also be harmful to humans if inhaled, particularly for those people who have respiratory issues.