Biscayne Bay, Already Suffering From Fish Kill, Now Dealing With Algae Bloom

NORTH BAY VILLAGE (CBSMiami) --  For weeks now, dead fish have been floating in Biscayne Bay, but now there's an Algae bloom.

"The smell was just really bad. We were not sure what was going on," said Voula, a North Bay Village resident.

Lots of algae has been seen in North Bay Village, north of the 79th Street Causeway.

"July presented us with the perfect storm," said Dr. Todd Crowl, the Director of the FIU Institute of Environment.

Dr. Crowl said this is the result form the combination of high water temperature, lower tides, and dissolved oxygen in the water.

With the heavy rainfall we have had over the summer, he said it caused excess of nutrients and pollution to overflow into the bay, impacting the water quality.

"And that results in the perfect condition to get these algae blooms," said Dr. Crowl.

Dr. Crowl said Algae consumes oxygen from the water at night. They do die quickly, but with a huge amount of masses in the water, its concerning.

"It is just a downward spiral because, just like I told you al,l the dead algae are now being decomposed which uses up lots of oxygen. So you get dead fish dying and they then start using more oxygen," said Dr. Crowl.

Water agencies along with Miami Dade County and the City of Miami have been pumping oxygen into the water.

North Bay Village just passed a fertilizer ordinance and a single use plastic ban.

"We need all of our neighboring municipalities, we need Miami Dade county and we need the state of Florida on board to save Biscayne Bay."

If you find dead fish on the shoreline, experts recommend putting it in a trash can. Leaving them will only produce more bacteria in the water.