Lake Okeechobee is the septic tank of the Florida agriculture industry. All of the fertilizer and byproduct gets washed into it and held, only to be let out later. That “later” always seems to coincide with a red tide bloom. The gulf coast, south of the Caloosahatchee River becomes full of brown water that carries a bad smell.

I took this picture during the big bloom in 2016. The one where the whale shark washed up on Captiva Island. The beach, both water and sand, were covered by dead fish. Later, in December when the algae had dissipated, we took a boat out to enjoy the clean water. What I wasn’t prepared for was not what I saw, but what I didn’t see. It was still and silent. There were no fish, no birds, no dolphin, just silence. When one link in the food chain breaks, the whole place comes apart.

October 7, 2016

• iPhone 7 Plus (wide camera)
• 28 mm, ƒ1.8
• 1/1389 s