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Sarasota News Leader February 22, 2013 Page 112 tide. Also, it is fun to contradict a ���competent authority��� who states that ���Cabeza de Vaca was the first person to document red tide in the Gulf of Mexico in the 1530s.��� ���Did not!��� ���Did too!��� ���Did not!��� The topic can stimulate and enliven dinner table conversations. ���In the last days of October 1875, the inhabitants of the city of Veracruz were repeatedly bothered by a dry cough caused by an irritation of the throat. This malady also affected horses, dogs, and other animals. The north wind blew with major intensity, and the authorities took notice that all along the entire For those interested in early Florida history, coast of Barlovento an enormous quantity of Cabeza de Vaca was the first true ���anthropolodead fish had washed ashore along the beach���. gist��� (although not by choice!) to have studied and written intelligently about Native Amer- I love that description because it brings me to icans in the 16th century. Readers interested my favorite subject ��� animals. You see, even in this subject may enjoy this book by Paul pets can suffer from a red tide lingering on Schneider, a part-time resident of Bradenton, our shoreline. It is important that pet owners Brutal Journey: Cabeza de Vaca and the Epic safeguard dogs from an outbreak and keep First Crossing of North America. It is avail- them away from affected waters. able used in paperback from Amazon, starting THE HUMAN FACTORS at $4.26. In November 1792, a government official in Veracruz, Mexico, wrote of red tide in terms consistent with today���s reporting. He described masses of dead fish washing onto the beaches, human deaths associated with the consumption of those fish and a government ban on the sale of river and sea fish until they had been inspected by proper authorities and declared safe to eat. Records of red tide disturbances along Florida���s west coast date to 1844. For a complete listing, please click on this link. But my absolute favorite historical account is the following: By 1879, there were several mentions in the Veracruz official records of huge fish kills and associated human respiratory problems. Subsequent reports of fish kills in Veracruz, Mexico, come from Nu��ez Ortega, who traveled in 1879 to Veracruz, Mexico, to investigate an outbreak of respiratory irritation among the population and reported the following: Now, in fairness to my readers (and if anyone is still awake), I should address the issue of red tide���s effect on people, rather than on dolphins, cormorants and our beloved manatees. Let us examine the case of the dedicated and determined beachgoers. After all, it is high season ��� The outcry from people over the reversal of the smoking ban on public beaches reinforced in me the knowledge that humans were endowed with common sense: ���Secondhand smoke stinks and violates my right to the clean sea air by polluting my respiratory system. Cigarette butts in the pristine sands are an eyesore to me and a threat to birds and fish.��� Such words make people sound normal and rational, do they not? But come red tide, something strange happens to people. Beachgoers arrive at the beach. They see and smell the piles of dead, rotting fish lining it.