Here's a nice <a
href="http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020402.html">satellite
photo</a> of the dense black water trapped in the Florida Bay (that's
just south of Tampa, west of the Everglades, and north of the nation's
only barrier reef).

Of course, mysterious and deadly waters aren't new to our nation's gulfs
and bays. Southern California and Florida often have 'red tides' of
toxic bacteria caused by industrial pollution and failed water
treatment. Louisiana, famously, has a <a
href="http://www.gpc.peachnet.edu/~jaliff/water.htm">giant dead zone on
its southern border</a> where the collected run-off pollution of the
giant mississippi drains.

Freshwater leaching of agricultural and industrial pollutants into the
coastal waters is a major cause of ecological catastrophe, destroying
river habitats in the process as well.

The mysterious black bay in Florida is receiving in-depth analysis this
weekend, so more should be known by next monday. A theory that it is
the result of a natural "burp" of hydrogen sulfide -- causing a bad odor
that is also evident -- is being advanced by Mote Marine Laboratories in
Sarasota. However, the research director of the Florida Marine Research
Institute, John Hunt, says <a
href="http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/2980320.htm">it is more
likely an algae bloom from run-off</a>.

This would appear to put new pressure on the attempted <a
href="http://www.enn.com/news/wire-
stories/2001/05/05062001/krt_aquifer_43321.asp">management of aquifer
water by the state of Florida</a> (which environmentalists assailed as a
bio-polluting of the Everglades and coast), as well as the large scale
agricultural practices of Florida's cane producers (<a
href="http://www.ussugar.com/pressroom/white_papers/florida_bay.html">who
apparently find this serious enough to have issued a denial</a>).