A boat ride on Florida bay with Orvis President Simon Perkins reveals devastation from an algae bloom

I was recently invited to take a boat trip out to Florida Bay by Orvis, the apparel and outdoor gear company, Captains for Clean Water and the Everglades Foundation. We met at Angler House near mike marker 80 in Islamorada and headed out to the bay from there. Steve Davis, the chief science officer from the Everglades Foundation, came with us to interpret what we were seeing. Seeing the bay delivered a gut punch I did not expect. The once clear, crystalline waters that I remember so well from my childhood and youth, were now a pea-green murky mess. I couldn't even see the engine propeller, the water was so murky. A toxic blue-green algae bloom had taken over the bay, right off the keys coast. Such algae can kill fish, grasses and tourism, Davis explained. The groups had produced an excellent short film about the journey of water from shingle creek in Orlando to Florida Bay.  Upon our return to Angler House, I interviewed Orvis President Simon Perkins, an avid fly-fisherman who had come along on the boat ride.