Charlotte County beachgoers take it one day at a time as red tide runs the show

Mark Timchula spends more than 40 hours a week on Englewood Beach renting out umbrellas and chairs to visitors.

He called Wednesday “an ideal beach day.”

“The beach is filled with people having a great time and swimming in the water,” he said.

But the past few days on Manasota Key haven’t been as picturesque.

“A few days last week, we had to close because the smell and scratching in your throat was hard to take out here at the beach,” said Timchula.

Michael Marenna from Massachusetts gave Englewood Beach a second chance after spotting dead fish and dealing with respiratory irritation earlier this week.

“It’s definitely much better today, like, significantly. I don’t see the dark line, I’m not coughing, I’m not sneezing as much,” said Marenna.

Timchula says with red tide, outdoor businesses and beach-goers need to take it day-by-day.

While Wednesday we saw minimal dead fish on Englewood Beach, at the Boca Grande Fishing Pier about 10 miles south in Lee County, we could smell the stench as soon as we arrived and dead fish of all shapes and sizes dotted the beach.

“I just…it was kind of weird. It was like, why are there so many dead fish,” asked Rob Lynch who was visiting the pier.

Hoping for a day filled with clear water and sunshine, but taking it one day at a time.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife updates its red tide sampling map daily, which shows the last eight days of sampling.

You can see the latest red tide map below: