This past Saturday, July 25, 2020, my husband, Ed, flew across the state to Ft Meyers to visit pilot and fellow River Warrior, Dave Stone. Along for the ride were two other friends, Scott Kuhns and Don Page.
Before the men flew off, I asked the question, like a tape-recorded message: “Could you please take some photos of the algae in Lake Okeechobee?”
“Sure,” Ed replied. “But we’re just going straight across.”
The afternoon went by, and when Ed returned home, my first question was, “Did you see any algae?”
“No,” he answered. “Didn’t you look at the photos I shared?”
I looked at my phone and clicked on the 52 photos. “No visible algae in Lake Okeechobee? Really hunny?
…Where did you guys fly?”
Ed took a long breath. “I told you Jacqui- straight across.”
“What was your altitude?” I shot out.
“About 2000 feet; why are you asking?” Ed looked at me with wide eyes.
“Were you talking to Scott and Don so much that you didn’t really look?” I inquired.
Ed looked me straight in the eye: “Jacqui, we were ALL looking. I told you, there was none, zero, nada.”
“Hmm.” I mused. “Why then aren’t there any photos of the central or west side of the lake?”
“Because there wasn’t any algae!” His final reply.
So today, I share Ed’s photos.
They highlight Port Mayaca at Lake Okeechobee, C-44 Canal, St Lucie Inlet, Hutchinson Island (with a lot of seaweed), Sailfish Flats (seagrass kind of coming back), and Sewall’s Point (with very little seagrass around Bird Island.) Nonetheless, you’ll see that the water itself looks better all around.
And the algae?
It is wonderful that Ed and his friends saw no visible algae.” Really great.
“Visible” though is the key word here. Cyanobacteria is known for its ability to move up and down in the water column. Sunlight is key. My brother Todd’s website eyeonlakeo reveals daily pass satellites Terra, Aqua -there was heavy cloud cover over Lake Okeechobee parts of Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
In 2016, the year the lake was 90% covered in algae, Dr Edward Philips of the University of Florida Dept. of Fisheries and Aquatic Science was quoted in an Okeechobee publication. I thought it explained all so well, I wrote it down:
“Cyanobacteria have gas vesicles which act as buoyancy control devices. The vesicles can be expanded and filled with gas, causing the cyanobacteria to float on the surface, or deflated, which causes the cyanobacteria to descend into the water column. Just because you don’t see it, doesn’t mean there’s nothing going on.”
No Visible Algae in LakeO? Really Hunny?
Ed and I will back up in the air again soon! 🙂
~Your Eye in the Sky,
Jacqui and Ed
Port Mayaca at Lake Okeechobee
C-44 Canal and S-80. Now closed.
St Luice Inlet and Hutchinson Island
Sailfish Flats between Hutchison Island and Sewall’s Point.
