Florida has a problem. Piles of dead fish have been spotted in some of Pinellas County’s bays and bayous after they were contaminated with red tide. The same algae bloom has been fouling the waters in Manatee and Sarasota counties.

, the Florida red tide is a higher-than-usual concentration of the naturally occurring, microscopic algae, Karenia brevis. This type of algae produces potent and powerful brevetoxins, which have the ability to kill marine animals and harm humans. Sometimes humans can escape impacts because the algae forms many miles offshore, but when it travels inshore on wind and water currents, it can cause respiratory irritation among beachgoers.

The bloom slipped into the lower Tampa Bay, Boca Ciega Bay and the south Pinellas Gulf beaches, said red tide research scientist Alina Corcoran.

The photo above shows fish killed by red tide.

(Thinkstock/Brian Dombrowski)

Heaps of dead fish including mullet, grunt, sheepshead, catfish and spadefish have such as Gulfport and St. Pete Beach’s bay side, reports the St. Petersburg Tribune. Corcoran says concentrations of red tide measured from very low to moderate and high in some Tampa Bay areas.

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Residents began reporting respiratory issues such as coughing and scratchy throats Monday, according to Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute spokeswoman Kelly Richmond.

Small colonies of the microscopic algae Karenia brevis usually causing no problems, reports the Tampa Bay Times. However, every now and then the algae population offshore blooms, causing the algae to multiply rapidly and spread. The expanding bloom stains the water a rusty color, causing the “red tide” name.

Vice president of Hubbard’s Marina at John’s Pass in Madeira Beach Dylan Hubbard said and the outbreak has not affected fishing trips.

“It’s very concentrated in local areas,” said Hubbard. “We haven’t seen a single dead fish on the beaches or off shore.” According to him, Apollo Beach, south Tampa Bay, the Maximo area near the Sunshine Skyway and the inner bays seem to be most affected.

“But in the pass and along the beach the water flows so much it hasn’t had a chance to flourish,” said Hubbard.

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Qingdao, China

This picture taken on July 22, 2015 shows a youth walking through algae at a beach in Qingdao, in eastern China's Shandong province. The algal phenomenon, an annual occurrence in Qingdao, is usually caused by an abundance of nutrients in the water, especially phosphorus, although the triggers for the enormous blooms which began to appear in the Yellow Sea in 2007 remain uncertain. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)