Bama Rick,
Thanks for the recommend to Ft Morgan. The ferry was cool, and we met some awesome folks both on the ferry and over supper afterwards.
We took a dolphin tour boat this morning, and had a great conversation with the captain, who also runs a fishing charter. He agreed with most here that the gulf is not in as bad a shape as was presented to us by the couple we met on Sunday.
He did say that sport fishing has suffered for some species, like flounder. He also said that water born infections that were unheard of ten years ago are frequent now. Says he will not bodily go in some waters in the summer time. Said that in recent years that deaths from infected cuts happen every year, and that loss of limbs from infection is becoming common. He’d never known of either to occur on a regular basis, locally.
Vibrio Vulnificus, AKA flesh eating bacteria, is pervasive in the warm coastal waters all across the country. If you have been in the warm coastal waters, you have come in contact with it. It may have even entered your blood stream. Most people who come in contact with it fight it off without ever knowing the got it. Those at greatest risk are those who are immunocompromised and those who drink heavily.
