Mote unveils new technology designed to combat red tide blooms

The new methods and deployment strategies required years of research and collaboration from Mote and its partners, marking a milestone in red tide mitigation.


A-C-T Environmental & Infrastructure could deploy a sprayer from a vessel to spray the red tide fighting chemicals on the ocean surface.
A-C-T Environmental & Infrastructure could deploy a sprayer from a vessel to spray the red tide fighting chemicals on the ocean surface.
Photo by Carter Weinhofer
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Solutions to eliminate red tide are here. 

Staff from Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium and other Mote consultants displayed an array of new technologies the team developed to fight red tide blooms at a Jan. 29 event for media representatives. 

President & CEO of Mote Marine Laboratory Michael Crosby said this event marked significant progress for the organization’s long-standing efforts to mitigate red tide.

It’s something he was tasked with from his first day at Mote in 2010.

“We now have nearly two dozen that are ready to be deployed once we get through the permitting,” Crosby said. “Every single one of these developed technologies is a huge advancement in our ability to use science, to use advanced technology to solve problems, to restore ecosystems, to fight these harmful algal blooms. And the impacts are far beyond Florida red tide.” 

Red tide is a harmful algal bloom caused by an abundance of the bacteria, Karenia brevis. Large red tide blooms have been known to cause respiratory issues and lead to widespread fish kills, which impact the health of marine ecosystems. 

At the Jan. 29 event, Crosby and the team at Mote unveiled three red tide-fighting chemicals and a plethora of ways to deploy them. 

Drones would be used to deploy CLEAR onto the surface of the water to fight red tide blooms.
Photo by Carter Weinhofer

Each of the three — CLEAR, Xtreme and Ozonix — is different in how they work and how they are deployed. Some can be deployed as a liquid and sprayed on the surface of the water. Others can come in small particles belatedly onto the surface or anywhere in the water column. 

Crosby said until recently, most grant funding for red tide was focused on studying the algae and its impacts. Thanks to support from state officials and federal funds, Mote was able to take things a step forward and develop these technologies. 

“Without our legislators and our governor really embracing this vision and believing in us, none of this would happen,” Crosby said. 

Crosby tasked his team of scientists with developing these biocides and technologies, which took about four years of research, trial and error. 

“We have looked at over 300 different approaches and methodologies. We’ve narrowed it down, we have nearly two dozen diverse approaches,” Crosby said.

Crosby said it’s not difficult to kill the red tide algae. But the trick is finding a solution that kills the red tide without harming the surrounding environment. 

“Our mantra is, with all of these technologies, none of them will do any greater harm to the environment than red tide is already doing,” Crosby said.


Red tide toolbox

The different products and deployment methods would likely work together through a deployment strategy developed by Mote and its partners. 

“There is no one single silver bullet that is going to solve a red tide bloom. It’s going to take a toolbox,” Crosby said.

Rich Pierce (left) and Dana Wetzel (right) were two of the senior scientists tasked by Michael Crosby (center) and Mote to develop red tide biocides.
Photo by Carter Weinhofer

Dana Wetzel was one of the Mote staff who oversaw the research. Wetzel is the senior scientist and program manager for Mote’s Environmental Lab for Forensics. 

Wetzel’s team developed CLEAR, which is one of the main biocides in Mote’s red tide toolbox. 

Her team went through a tiered process of experimentation to evaluate different chemical compounds at varying scales. They utilized a unique red tide testing facility, which Crosby said is the only one like it in the world. 

This facility includes mesocosm tanks, which allow the scientists to simulate an environment like a red tide bloom on a larger scale. 

It was important to test almost 50 different natural compounds to find the right one, Wetzel said. 

“We wanted to make sure that whatever we were proposing to use as a biocide was safe,” Wetzel said. “That was our priority.”

Finally, the team selected the one that showed the most promise, which is now trademarked as CLEAR. 

A-C-T Environmental & Infrastructure could deploy a sprayer from a vessel to spray the red tide fighting chemicals on the ocean surface.
Photo by Carter Weinhofer

CLEAR has all necessary approvals through state and federal organizations like the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 

With these approvals, Wetzel’s team proved that CLEAR is safe to use and won’t have negative impacts on the environment. 

“We can use this product in areas where there would be fish in, in shellfish harvest areas. It’s a safe product,” Wetzel said.

The product comes in different forms, including a liquid form which can be inserted into a remote-operated device that disperses CLEAR throughout the water column. CLEAR can also be utilized as small, engineered particles that could be distributed by drones or a backpack blower. 

Mote can deploy CLEAR sub-surface, meaning anywhere in the water column, using a device like this.
Photo by Carter Weinhofer

When CLEAR is dispersed, the compound starts to degrade algal blooms. In the mesocosm testing areas, CLEAR showed its quick effectiveness. 

“What we were seeing in the mesocosms in the laboratory was total mortality in less than 15 minutes,” Wetzel said.

Another one of the chemicals in the red tide toolbox is Xtreme, a non-toxic treatment developed by Heartland Energy Group that is already used for blue-green algae, the freshwater equivalent of red tide. 

Through laboratory testing, the team proved Xtreme’s effectiveness in a marine environment with red tide. 

Brandon Rau with AquaTech Eco Consultants demonstrates how a backpack blower could be used to deploy CLEAR.
Photo by Carter Weinhofer

David Spiers, senior global product manager for Heartland Energy Group, said Xtreme is liquid, biodegradable and can be sprayed on the water by plane, crop duster, boat or drones. 

Heartland Energy Group has 150,000 gallons in its Melbourne, Florida warehouse and Spiers said they have enough raw materials to make one million gallons. 

“That product is ready to deploy tomorrow,” Spiers said.

The third is Ozonix, which uses decades-old technology which Prescott Clean Water will apply to red tide treatment. 

Ozonix is chemical-free and uses hydrodynamic cavitation, which uses pressure to create bubbles and break apart substances like red tide blooms. The treatment can also use ozone injection and acoustic cavitation, the latter of which uses sound waves to create substance-breaking bubbles. 

Prescott Clean Water has a mobile unit on a trailer to deploy Ozonix on a large scale. The team is working on a 48-hour deployment plan in the event of a red tide bloom.
Photo by Carter Weinhofer

“As said, this is not a silver bullet. Coordination with the other technologies is probably going to be the only way to get this done,” said Steve McKenzie, lead technician with Prescott Clean Water. 

With these new technologies and strategies in hand, Mote is ready to act on a red tide bloom. Crosby said combating red tide not only helps the environment, but also the economy by stopping the fish kills that can deter tourists.

“If we had a red tide today, these are all deployable. They’re all approved,” Crosby said. “It’s good science to restore the environment but also to grow the economy.”

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author

Carter Weinhofer

Carter Weinhofer is the Longboat Key news reporter for the Observer. Originally from a small town in Pennsylvania, he moved to St. Petersburg to attend Eckerd College until graduating in 2023. During his entire undergraduate career, he worked at the student newspaper, The Current, holding positions from science reporter to editor-in-chief.

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