Maggots spotted on Collier County beaches

While Collier beaches might be clear of dead fish from red tide right now, beachgoers are running into an equally gross problem: maggots.

“We need to be aware of our surroundings: what’s in the ground what’s in the water, what’s in the air right now,” said beachgoer Colleen Gill.

What she hoped would be a nice morning stroll on the beach quickly took a disgusting turn when she found fish half buried and crawling with maggots.

Gill says she took video on Naples Beach Wednesday morning around high tide, and she’s shocked she saw the maggots in Naples, saying the City has done a good job keeping the beaches clean.

But with the red tide, you never know what you’ll see.

“We could have the wind in our favor right now — it’s pushing it out, but tomorrow the wind comes onshore– it could be really bad again so it varies day to day,” she says.

The City of Naples said they’ve gotten no official reports of maggots, but it is possible they are present since it is a part of the natural decomposition cycle.

Much like a rotten apple could attract flies, so do the dead fish.

But the City says crews are on the beach seven days a week cleaning debris, emptying dumpsters and ridding the beaches of dead fish so that maggots don’t have a chance.

“It has to happen, every year we have that, nothing new under the sun,” said beachgoer Eduardo Anez.

Anez says conditions at Naples Beach are good, and he hasn’t seen any maggots himself.

If you see maggots or dead sea life on the beaches, the City of Naples says to call them and report it.