The Red Tide Raptor!

On our morning bike ride this Sunday, we met David Skaggs at Emerson Point. ​David is a local artist that was hauling on his truck bed his latest creation, a Godzilla-like depiction that he called the Red Tide Raptor!

The sculpture was made from skeletal remains of all kinds of victims of the Red Tide that washed up on the Gulf of Mexico's shorelines. If you look closer, you can see fish heads, shoe crabs, eels, crabs, fish teeth... forming the entire body!

With his art, David shows the devastating impact of the Red Tide on Florida's marine life while simultaneously making a very powerful statement for the need to fight this monster.

David bleached all the remains before he used them and covered it all with epoxy resin. While a tangible visual reminder of the Red Tide was very welcomed and quite motivating to want to do something to solve this serious problem, we were truly thankful that he did not attempt to make us relive our unpleasant Red Tide olfactory experiences!