Red drift algae remains on Bunche Beach

Reporter: Michelle Alvarez
Published: Updated:
Red drift algae is washing up on Lee County beaches, but it’s actually good for animals like shore birds. (CREDIT: WINK News)

A smelly mess continues to wash up on the shoreline at Bunche Beach and parts of Fort Myers Beach.

Red drift algae is leaving the area with a disgusting smell.

Red drift algae is not harmful or toxic, but it does have a really bad smell.

It smells “a little bit like sewage,” said Karen Hollenbaugh, who is visiting Southwest Florida from Pennsylvania.

“I wouldn’t want to stay here long and breathe it in. It’s just my husband and I,” Hollenbaugh said. “We’re OK. I wouldn’t bring our grandchildren.”

The question now is whether the red drift algae is also taking over Fort Myers Beach.

There is some, but not the amount found on Bunche Beach.

Aaron Kernell, of Fort Myers, said the smell is what gets him.

“I haven’t been here in about six months. And when I got here, I noticed that it’s like a lot of algae on the ground. And like, there’s like a different smell. And it smells like almost like dead fish in the kind of like, mix. It makes you cough, almost like red tide, but not as bad,” Kernell said.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.