audio, stills, text and or video: Go to zReportage.com to see more - Scientists statewide and with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration are trying to understand the lengthy lifespan of this year's red tide algae bloom which is killing marine life in the waters off southwest Florida in unprecedented numbers. On the fine, shell-dappled beaches of Sanibel Island, the putrid corpses of all manner of sea life are scraped into piles by a rag-tag crew with metal-tined rakes. Matilda Meritt, a cigarette between her lips, rhinestone sunglasses, and a shirt that reads ''wake me when the boring is over,'' is on the early shift, dropped off in one of two Greyhound buses every morning for a week since tons of death washed up on these shores. World renowned for the shells left on its curved beaches by gentle currents, Sanibel this summer is under attack by a menacing red tide, an algae confounding scientists with its longevity and overwhelming Florida's southwest coastline with mountains of dead fish, turtles and manatees. Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency over the ongoing harmful bloom that is killing tons of marine life, the rolling death tally is 30 percent higher than the five-year average, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Red tide is a systematic killer, working its way up the food chain from little snails on sea grasses eaten by manatees to fish eaten by turtles, birds or bigger fish. The toxin it produces affects the nervous system. Brown pelicans stumble about and lose their waterproofing because they can no longer preen. Turtles swim in circles. Manatees drown, unable to lift their snouts above water. Some of the animals that come into the care of veterinarian Robin Bast at the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife on Sanibel are so weak they can't blink their eyes... ''We don't name them,'' Bast emphasizes. ''I've been here eight years. This is the worst in eight years.'' But at least Bast's animals have a fighting chance. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has documented almost 300 sea turtle deaths in the waters off southwest Florida since the bloom started last October.
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August 7, 2018 - Nokomis, Florida, U.S. - GRETCHEN LOVEWELL, Mote's program manager for the team that investigates dead and stranded animals pulls a dead manatee in Shakett's Creek. The manatee will be necropsied to determine if it died from the deadly toxins in red tide.
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August 7, 2018 - Sarasota, Florida, U.S. - GRETCHEN LOVEWELL, Mote Marine Lab's program manager for the team that investigates dead and stranded animals (C) and technician, JESSICA BLACKBURN take a break from a necropsies of a Loggerhead (L) and Kemp's Ridley turtle. Blood and tissue samples will be tested to determine if the deadly toxins in red tide were the cause.
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August 6, 2018 - Sanibel, Florida, U.S. - A worker drives a front loader full of dead sea life gathered from the Sanibel beach. Millions of sea life have been killed by toxic red tide.
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August 7, 2018 - Nokomis, Florida, U.S. - GRETCHEN LOVEWELL, Mote's program manager for the team that investigates dead and stranded animals guides a dead manatee on a truck after retrieving it from Shakett's Creek. The manatee will be necropsied to determine if it died from the deadly toxin in red tide.
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August 6, 2018 - Sanibel, Florida, U.S. - People Ready worker ABIGAIL ROSARIO plucks a dead fish out of the water and into a bucket at the Sanibel boat ramp where red tide is killing millions of fish.
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August 6, 2018 - Sanibel, Florida, U.S. - A dead Loggerhead turtle in Southwest Florida.
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August 6, 2018 - Sanibel , Florida, U.S. - A brown pelican recovers in an oxygen tank at the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife. The center has treated more animals since the red tide began.
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August 6, 2018 - Sanibel, Florida, U.S. - Vet Tech MISSY FOX, (L) and vet student ALISON FLANDERS feed a brown pelican with a tube at the Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife. The pelican lost its waterproofing because it could no longer preen. The center has treated more animals since the red tide began.
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August 7, 2018 - Sanibel, Florida, U.S. - GRETCHEN LOVEWELL, (L), Mote's program manager for the team that investigates dead and stranded animals begins a necropsy of a Kemp's Ridley turtle while senior biologist REBECCAH HAZELKORN records the data in the Mote Laboratory. Blood and tissue samples will be tested to see if red tide played a part in the turtle's death.
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August 7, 2018 - Sarasota, Florida, U.S. - Chalkboard on the refrigerator door where dead turtles are kept until they are necropsied at Mote Marine Laboratory. Blood and tissue samples will be tested to determine if the deadly toxins in red tide were the cause.
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August 6, 2018 - Sanibel, Florida, U.S. - People Ready workers pick up dead sea life from a beach where red tide is killing millions of fish.
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August 6, 2018 - Sanibel, Florida, U.S. - A People Ready worker picks up dead fish. Millions of fish have been killed by the toxic red tide.
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August 6, 2018 - Sanibel, Florida, U.S. - A dumpster filled with dead sea life removed from the beach. Millions of fish and sea life are being killed by the toxic red algae.
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August 6, 2018 - Sanibel, Florida, U.S. - People Ready workers, LYNYRD BYER (L), and SAL ABBRACCIAMENTO, unload bags of dead fish they removed from canals. Millions of fish have been killed from the red tide.
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August 6, 2018 - Sanibel, Florida, U.S. - People Ready workers, (L), SAL ABBRACCIAMENTO, and DREW SAXON get ready to pick up a dead Loggerhead turtle. A necropsy will be performed to determine whether the turtle died from deadly toxins in the red tide.
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August 6, 2018 - Sanibel, Florida, U.S. - 250-pound Goliath grouper floats in the water in Sanibel, where red tide is killing millions of fish.
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