SEBASTIAN – Red tide conditions at the Sebastian Inlet, Wabasso Beach, and other beaches continue to improve.
As we reported on Saturday, the air quality at the Sebastian Inlet and Wabasso Beach was a lot better than the previous days. Also, residents living near Indian River Shores reported better air quality on their beaches.
Conditions have improved ever since the winds came out of the west, pushing the airborne microbes off the beach. In addition, we had a couple of cold fronts move into Sebastian and Vero Beach over the weekend.
All beaches are still closed, but as we said last Saturday, we think they will be open soon in Indian River County. We’ll update you when the beaches are available.
“We did not see a significant amount of new fish washing ashore nor respiratory discomfort today,” Indian River County officials said.
However, the winds are expected to shift northeast to east Tuesday night and into Wednesday. We’re not sure how it will affect the amount of new dead fish that could be in the Atlantic Ocean.
Approximately 1-2 miles of beach cleaning remains in north county, and about 5 miles of beach cleaning remains in the south county.
The cleanup crew has collected approximately 132,000 pounds of marine debris and cleared approximately 16.5 miles of 22.5 miles of countywide shoreline.
To date, there hasn’t been any evidence of fish or other sea life dying in the Indian River Lagoon. All dead fish seen in the Lagoon have come in from the ocean waters through the Sebastian Inlet.
Sebastian Daily will visit the beaches and the Sebastian Inlet on Wednesday and bring you updates.