Plumes of toxic oceanic bacteria known as red tide continued to move up the western Florida coast, strewing thousands of dead fish on beaches while state officials tried to reassure Floridians and potential tourists Thursday that the outbreak was being taken seriously but isn’t as bad as it would seem.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday assembled a team of experts in St. Petersburg to describe the work that is underway to better understand and control the latest outbreak.

As the state’s economy continues to emerge from the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic, images of beaches littered with dead fish could threaten to keep visitors from flocking to seaside communities during the July 4 holiday.