ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
ALVA Woodpeckers build home in Alva woman’s house You may have heard of squatters, but this woman is dealing with squawkers. Who needs a rooster to wake up when you have woodpeckers?
FORT MYERS Man claims he was trapped in a high-rise for 5 days A 77-year-old man wants justice after he claims he spent days trapped on the 24th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
PUNTA GORDA Charlotte Correctional prisoner arrested for death of another inmate State Attorney Amira Fox convened a grand jury, which decided to move forward with a case against a Charlotte Correctional inmate.
SANIBEL Construction near Dairy Queen eagle nest on Sanibel raises concerns While many eagle nests may be a bit difficult to see, one nest has always been a favorite for Sanibel residents and tourists.
The environmental effects of artificial sweeteners Experts are studying how the foods we eat affect the environment, especially after we flush our waste down the toilet.
Victim reacts to man exposing himself to her Ring camera You get a notification on your phone from your ring camera app that someone is at the door, only to find out it is someone exposing themselves. It’s the last thing victim Maria Kivi wanted or expected to see last week.
LEE COUNTY The art of capturing your eye and drawing you in How do you capture young, hip, trendy, fun, movers and shakers, all in a pose? We take you behind the scenes of a Gulfshore Life cover shoot.
FORT MYERS The lives of two SJC Boxers changed in the ring Two SJC Boxers, Mario Nunez and Arbon Kurtishi, help each other in the ring as each of them had their lives changed because of boxing.
FORT MYERS Chlamydia cases rising sharply in Lee County If you think about a crowded space- something with more than 250 people- if it’s in Lee county, statistically one person has chlamydia.
SANIBEL Sanibel resort day passes hope to get more business on the island A pass will allow vacationers to hang out at a Sanibel beach club for a day in hopes of drumming up some business.
Voting equipment tested ahead of Lee County elections Voting equipment is being tested in Lee County. This is to ensure all ballots are printed and counted correctly for the upcoming election.
Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.
WINK weather team watching tropical wave over Atlantic Ocean The Weather Authority is watching a tropical disturbance over the Central Atlantic Ocean.
CAPE CORAL Cape Coral drug bust leads investigators to fake fentanyl, cash and guns Cape Coral man arrest on drug charges. Investigators said they found, guns, drugs, and more than $32,000 in Richard Riley’s home.
NAPLES Naples youth flag football team to compete in Ohio tournament This weekend, the Naples Lunatics Green will compete in the Superhero Sports tournament in Canton, Ohio.
Every coastal community in the WINK News viewing area is seeing red tide. From Sarasota down to Marco Island, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s red tide map continues to show new dots signifying low to high concentrations of the algae. This isn’t exactly the welcome mat Fort Myers Beach wants to lay out for its visitors. Not only can you see the signs of red tide, but you can also feel them in the air you breathe. Dale Dhuey, a visitor from Wisconsin, loves a good stroll down the beach, but he’s lately had to dodge dead fish on the way. “There’s just, there’s just dead fish everywhere,” Dhuey said. “If I had known how bad it was today, we probably wouldn’t have came.” Small to medium-sized fish float in with the surf and create what’s known as wrack lines. “I was stunned when I saw this,” Dhuey said. “We saw some big fish this morning, but this is incredible. There’s no words for it.” Large dead fish on Fort Myers Beach. (Credit: WINK News) “Never, ever seen anything like that,” said Jim Zahnder, from Buffalo, New York. “You wonder to yourself, ‘How bad is the red tide out there affecting large fish like that?'” said Mike Fenton, visiting from Connecticut. Dhuey and many other beachgoers say they have experienced red tide, but never to this magnitude. “We’ve seen a few dead fish other years, but today is… there’s just thousands of dead fish,” Dhuey said. “It’s terrible.” “The fish and everything that we see today is the most extreme that we’ve actually seen evidence of it,” said Indiana couple Carrie and Kevin Lambright. “I’ve experienced red tide,” Zahnder said. “This year, it’s stronger. People have coughs; it’s a respiratory thing.” The red tide organism Karenia brevis produces brevetoxins that affect the central nervous system of these fish. Wave action can break open K. brevis cells, releasing those toxins into the air and leading to respiratory irritation. Some people feel it, and some don’t. “We’re not at all; we’re good!” the Lambrights said. “My wife’s been coughing, and I’ve been coughing,” Fenton said.”We’re actually leaving now because I got, like, a scratchy throat.” WINK News asked FGCU Water School Professor Dr. Mike Parsons if the current red tide is cause for concern. “It means one of two things. One of them would be they were exposed to a lot of brenda toxin, the red tide toxin. Or second thing could be they experienced low oxygen conditions where they actually suffocated,” said Parsons. FWC’s red tide map continues to show more orange and red dots in our area, indicating medium and high red tide concentrations. WINK News’ red tide map. “Whereas if you looked a month ago, you were to see more of those red and orange dots north of us. So I don’t know if it’s if it’s really just this mass that moved south with the winds and the currents, or if we’re gonna start to see it spreading out more like we saw after Irma,” said Parsons. Is the current red tide linked to Ian? The simplest answer, we don’t know. “So typically, red tide starts at the end of September or early October. And it typically ends at the end of January, early February. So red tide started right after Ian, but it started like it typically does. So we don’t think there was necessarily anything unusual there,” Parsons said. Parsons says red tide is constantly evolving, so it’s a moving target making it even more difficult to analyze, but they’re working on it.