A large red tide bloom is threatening the Gulf Coast of Florida, and may wash ashore over the next two weeks, reports Techsonia. 

The 80-mile long by 50-mile wide bloom stretches from the Panhandle to the central Tampa Bay region. It is the largest red tide algae bloom in Florida since 2006.

Red tide bloom is a centuries-old phenomenon.  When the naturally occurring algae bloom grows uncontrolled, red tide results.  The bloom produces toxins fatal to marine life, and its odorless chemicals  can cause humans to cough and wheeze.

Thousands of dead fish, including bull sharks, crabs, eel, flounder, grouper, snapper and octopus, have been reported to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The size of the bloom could have an effect on commercial fishing and beach tourism north and south of  Tampa, said Brandon Basino, a Commission spokesman. “It has been killing a lot of marine species, especially fish, as it waits offshore,” said Basino.

A smaller red tide came close to shore last year, killing marine life including the endangered Florida manatees.

This week state wildlife officials sent researchers on an expedition to test water samples. The team found evidence of red tide at the ocean bottom. Currents are expected to carry the bloom to land.

Researchers at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida recently helped deploy Waldo and Bass, two underwater robots, to collect data on the slow-moving red tide, reports MSN.com.

A storm could quickly disperse the red tide bloom, or it could linger for months.

“I have seen analogies that equate red tide with a forest fire,” said Kellie Dixon,  manager of the Sarasota laboratory ocean technology program. “There is an ecosystem reset.”

If the bloom comes in,  it would not arrive all at once, said Alina Corcoran, one of the expedition research scientists. “All of southwest Florida is not doomed. This is normal. It happens all the time,” said Corcoran.