Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/84916
Sarasota News Leader September 28, 2012 'I LOVE SARASOTA BAY' WINNING PHOTOS TO BE DISPLAYED The winning submissions for the "I Love Sarasota Bay Photo Contest" will be showcased at the Sarasota Bay Water Festival Saturday, Nov. 17, at Ken Thompson Park on City Island. The first-, second- and third-place winners in three age divisions will be displayed, along with select finalists. The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. on Oct. 31. The contest rules and guidelines are posted at sarasotabaywaterfestival.com. Visitors to the free festival will have an opportunity to vote on a People's Choice Award, according to a Page 64 festival news release. Most of the photo sub- missions will be focused on coastal waters, habitat, recreation and wildlife. Among other festival highlights will be live music on the main stage, local food vendors and many exhibits and activities promoting boating, fishing, paddleboard sports, scuba diving and birding. Additionally, Florida's first "iceberg" will be unveiled, thanks to the creativity of Rick Her- zog, a sculpting professor at New College of Florida, the news release says. The Sarasota Ski-A-Rees Water Ski Show Team will perform at 4 p.m. Event guests The Sarasota Bay Estuary Program is the host sponsor. SLIGHT INCREASE IN RED TIDE DETECTED OFFSHORE Water samples collected Sept. 24 from several Sarasota County beach locations indicated a slight increase in the number of cells of the organism linked to red tide, county officials have announced. The samples were gathered by staff of the county Health Department and analyzed by Mote Marine Laboratory, a county news re- lease says. Therefore, officials from Mote Marine Labora- tory, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conserva- tion Commission's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) and representatives of the Sarasota County Environmental Utilities De- partment and the Sarasota County Health Department are paying close attention to off- shore waters, the news release says. The Florida red tide organism, Karenia bre- vis, also known as K. brevis, is always pres- ent in the Gulf of Mexico, the news release says, normally at very low levels. Subsequent monitoring so far by Mote's Beach Conditions Report System has not turned up any impacts on beaches, the release adds. "We've seen a few areas with increased counts of Karenia brevis cells and we thought it best to take the opportunity now to remind the public of the things that our organizations al- ways do to monitor the situation and the ways the public can get information about current conditions," said Sarasota County Health De-