Red Tide Spreads South From Texas to Mexican Waters

The toxic red tide surging along the Gulf Coast is spreading and getting stronger, posing an increasing threat to the state’s tourism and fishing industries, officials said today.

Flights along the coast showed that the red tide, which has killed millions of fish and can be harmful to humans, is continuing its path southward and has spread into Mexican waters, state spokesman Hal Osburn said.

The red tide, a proliferation of toxic microscopic organisms, has littered beaches with mounds of rotting fish since mid-September along hundreds of miles from Matagorda Bay to the Rio Grande.