Beltway Confidential

Disgusting green sludge has become the main issue in Florida’s Senate race

By Philip Wegmann

Published August 29, 2018 4:05pm ET

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Disgusting green sludge has become the main issue in Florida’s Senate race — Larry Brand, a professor of marine biology and fisheries at the University of Miami, takes a water sample for testing from an algae bloom on the Caloosahatchee River at the W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam, Thursday, July 12, 2018, in Alva, Fla. Water releases from Lake Okeechobee toward both Florida coasts will resume Friday amid political backlash and a toxic algae bloom. | (Lynne Sladky/AP)

A harmful algae bloom, better known colloquially as a red or pink tide, is a discoloration of seawater caused by a bloom of marine plankton called dinoflagellates. Because of an overabundance of nutrients, these blooms consume too much oxygen, killing fish and poisoning the water in the process.

And, at least in Florida, they can destroy political careers.

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2018 Elections Florida NASA Rick Scott