Red Tide

When we arrived in Florida for a Christmas-time family vacation, the first thing I heard was "Don't go out to the ocean". The effects of a Red Tide along the Gold Coast caused respiratory problems, rashes and itching, and killed a lot of fish. At night, a haze seemed to hang over the whole Cocoa Beach area. Fortunately, it cleared up for the latter half of our trip.

From the ground level, it wasn't clear what was so 'red' about it, but this picture is pretty dramatic. It's from the West coast, not the East, but it is a Red Tide.

Of all the people who visited Disney World (Epcot to be precise) on Christmas day, we were the most gansta...