Florida Water Pollution reporting 2008

Just this past week I was sent 2 E-mails, 1 from the DEP and 1 from Florida Fish and Wildlife.
They would like for Divers and Snorklers to Report Pollution and HAB’s.
If while diving you encounter a Pollution Spill of any magnitude you should photograph the spill and send to DEP.
If while snorkeling or diving you should encounter a Red Tide, HAB Algae Bloom the Florida Fish and Wildlife would appreciate photo’s and water samples.
original emails below DEP First then FFW:
 
Greetings to Everyone,
 
On behalf of The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (FDEP-CRCP), the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), and Palm Beach County Reef Rescue (PBCRR) we would like to announce the establishment of Southeast’s Florida Marine Debris Program.
 
The program is encourages local divers and southeast Florida dive shops to report marine debris they observe while scuba diving or snorkeling.  An online data entry form and a hotline has been created to allow you to report the location, type, and quantity of marine debris observed as well as the type and quantity of marine debris removed, if any during the dive or snorkel. 
 
The collection of this information will be used to organize reef clean-up events in the future.
 
For more information and to make a marine debris report visit www.cleanSEFLreefs.com
 
Please feel free to distribute widely and I apologize for any cross-postings.
 
Thank you,
 
Rob Ruzicka
Fishing and Diving Project Coordinator
Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s
Coral Reef Conservation Program
1277 NE 79th St Causeway
Miami, FL 33138
Phone: (305) 795-1221
Fax: (305) 795-3470
http://www.southeastfloridareefs.net/
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/COASTAL/programs/coral/
 
FFW
Good Morning,

Your email and photo’s were received by the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Research Institute. If there was a pollution issue, that would be within
the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) jurisdiction. If there
was a bloom of some kind, Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) may
have looked at samples, but we didn’t hear about any HAB problems.

Discolored water does not necessarily equal Harmful Algae Bloom (HAB).
Your photos were shared with our HAB expert who stated that if a water
sample could be provided, we can examine it for the presence of any HAB
species.

Thank you for your concern.

Robin Allen
Outreach Coordination
Fish and Wildlife Research Institute
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
100 Eighth Avenue, SE
St. Petersburg, FL  33702-5020

Phone: 727-896-8626 ext. 2059
Fax: 727-893-9183
Robin.Allen@MyFWC.com
http://research.MyFWC.com