Residents plan to celebrate the opening of Midnight Pass

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) – Seeing the tidal connection between the Gulf of Mexico and Little Sarasota Bay opening up after Hurricanes Helen and Milton is a cause for celebration for many locals.

Lifelong Suncoast resident Mike Holderness is one of hundreds of participants in the Midnight Pass Boat Parade on Saturday.

Holderness said, “This is something the community has really wanted for decades. Our grandparents wanted this. It’s a really exciting time.”

“It’s just what our community does. It will show how much people love and rally around our environment, our estuaries and the quality of our water.”

A rally that was four decades in the making.

“We haven’t had in the last 40 years what we’ve had for 100 years,” said Sarasota Bay Estuary Program Executive Director Dave Tomasko. He adds that two property owners closed Midnight Pass in the 1980s.

This stopped the flow of water and hampered movement, causing large numbers of fish to die as it became more difficult to obtain oxygen.

“The free connection between Little Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico will improve water quality, especially after heavy rain like the one we had after Debbie,” Tomasko said.

And while many people are understandably excited about the pass’s reopening, Tomasko wants boaters to take care of the aquatic wildlife that call the bay home.

“The area inside Midnight Pass is a manatee protection zone. It’s slow speed without a trace, and we want people to know that.”