I am getting e mails from friends along the coast about the Red Tide being on the increase down south. Here is the report from Texas Parks and Wildlife.
Current Status

October 22, 2009

Aerosols have decreased today at Mustang Island State Park south of Port Aransas. Last night’s high tide cleaned off the beaches a bit, pushing the dead fish from the shoreline back to the dunes. This morning fresh dead fish began washing ashore along the beaches, including finger mullet and small ladyfish; old dead fish that likely died offshore are washing in as well. A reddish foam can be seen in the surf but it is unclear whether this is due to the red tide.

Several sites were visited around the South Padre Island area today. Red tide cell counts remain relatively high from south of Port Mansfield to the beaches in town, where aerosols were noticeable this morning. Fresh dead fish continue to wash up along the beaches. Additional dead fish have been seen floating in the lower Laguna Madre north of the Queen Isabella Causeway, though it is possible that these were brought in with the tide through Brazos-Santiago Pass.

Aerosols were also noticeable at Port Isabel yesterday afternoon.

A cool front approaching the coast today will shift winds from the southeast to the north. This could lessen aerosol symptoms for beachgoers and possibly keep the red tide from moving any further north along the coast.

Reports from Mexico indicate that the red tide extends south to La Pesca, but not as far as Soto de Marina. The state of Tamaulipas has closed shellfish harvest from the Rio Grande to Tampico. The road to the beach at Playa Bagdad (Washington Beach) is closed to traffic because of the red tide.

October 21, 2009 afternoon

Texas Parks and Wildlife staff were out on the water today in Corpus Christi, Port Mansfield and South Padre Island.

The team working Corpus Christi Bay near Naval Air Station Corpus Christi reported throat irritation and coughing due to the red tide aerosols but saw no discolored water or dead fish.

A second team surveyed the back side of Mustang Island, Packery Channel, the JFK Causeway area and the Upper Laguna Madre along the Intracoastal Waterway. Aerosols were milder than they have been in recent days and no fresh dead fish were found in Packery Channel or along the back side of southern Mustang Island. Some of the homeowners’ canals along the Upper Laguna Madre and near the Whataburger on Padre Island were visited as well; aerosols were found but no fresh dead fish.

The third team was dispatched to the Port Mansfield area. Mild aerosols and stressed gizzard shad were encountered in the lower Laguna Madre near Port Mansfield. A small fish kill was investigated along the northern shore of Mansfield Pass that was comprised of hardhead catfish, mullet, spot croaker, and spotted seatrout. Densities were approximately 30 fish per 15 yards. Large numbers of birds feeding on the dead fish in the pass.

Moderate aerosols and cell counts continue to be found along the South Padre Island beaches and at the windsurfing flats. Many of the fish that were stranded yesterday along the beaches up to the Mansfield Pass appear to have been picked up by the tide and moved south. No fresh dead fish were found along the beaches today.

-To read the Red Tide Status Report-