UpdatedFri, Apr 23, 2021 at 4:22 pm ET
Reply
Healing River Beekeepers in Bradenton has rescued and relocated more than 200 bee colonies. (Tiffany Razzano/Patch)
After rescuing bee swarms from public and private properties, Healing River Beekeepers continues to care for the colonies. They bottle and sell the honey produced by their bees. (Tiffany Razzano/Patch)
Farmers and others who own large properties, mostly around Robinson Preserve in Bradenton, donate space to Healing River Beekeepers for keeping their hives and tending to their bees. (Tiffany Razzano/Patch)
BRADENTON, FL One of David Blinn s least favorite chores as a child in Indiana was helping his father care for the bee colonies on their family farm.
The last major outbreak of the microorganism that tainted the turquoise Gulf waters lasted from October 2017 to February 2019. It killed countless sea creatures, including dolphins, sea turtles and manatees. While fish kills have been reported in Charlotte and Sarasota County recently due to red tide, no dead fish were found in Manatee as of Friday afternoon.
A sample taken just off Robinson Preserve showed a low presence of red tide, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the lead agency on red tide. Low concentrations can sometimes cause respiratory irritation, possible fish kills and halt the harvest of shellfish.
Listen • 4:43
Salt marshes are among the most productive ecosystems in the world. They create habitat for wildlife, protect shorelines from erosion, reduce flooding, and protect water quality by filtering runoff.
About a dozen volunteers wearing rubber boots and slathered in sunscreen have come to Robinson Preserve along the south shore of the Manatee River in Northeast Bradenton to plant saltmarsh grass
along new areas of tidal basin.
Damon Moore, a Division Manager with Manatee County s Parks & Natural Resources, gathered this crew at a marsh grass nursery created a decade ago at this 600-plus acre park.
The first part of bolstering this important coastal habitat is digging up the cordgrass before transplanting it to bare shoreline elsewhere in the preserve.
A computer model shows that a plume of wastewater from Piney Point has spread as far north as the Little Manatee River and St. Petersburg, and as far south as the Manatee River, as it slowly heads out toward the Gulf of Mexico.
Research teams from the University of South Florida are using a computer model that forecasts the path of nutrient-rich wastewater discharged into Tampa Bay from the former Piney Point fertilizer plant this month as they study how the polluted water is affecting marine ecosystems.
The forecast shows that a plume of the wastewater will shift back and forth along the eastern shores of middle and lower Tampa Bay, from as far north as the Cockroach Bay Aquatic Preserve and the Little Manatee River south to the northern shores of Robinson Preserve and the Manatee River. The forecast shows varying concentrations of the wastewater have entered important habitats such as Bishop Harbor and the Terra Ceia Aquatic Preserve.
Longboat Key
Parks and Natural Resources Director Charlie Hunsicker has been working to bring a countywide trail system to Manatee County for 25 years.
From Lakewood Ranch to Robinson Preserve, the county has its share of trail systems located within specific parks or communities. However, unlike some neighboring counties, it does not have a county trail system that connects and stretches across different areas.
Hunsicker said the county s staff is optimistic it can create a trail system, called the Gateway Trail, that winds through much of Manatee County and stretches more than 20 miles. It would connect with Sarasota County’s Fruitville Road and Payne Park to the south and Hillsborough County to the north.