WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., April 11 (UPI) -- The hurricanes that hit central Florida last year have left Lake Okeechobee's water the color of hot chocolate.
"What we have going on here is a flat-out disaster," said biologist Paul Gray, a lake expert for Audubon of Florida.
Near the shore the color of the water is a rusty brown like a cup of tea and it turns to deep chocolate brown in the middle of the lake, the Palm Beach Post reported Monday.
Under the current conditions, sunlight can penetrate only about 16 inches, biologists said. That means that it can't reach most submerged plants.
"You can't grow plants without sunlight," said Chuck Hanlon of the South Florida Water Management District. He added fish cannot be fed without the plants.
Bass fishing in 20 percent of the lake, located west of West Palm Beach, has gotten better, anglers say, but it's nonexistent in about 70 percent.
Experts say the lake was already too full and the hurricanes did a massive job of stirring up the sediment which is remaining suspended in the water.
