TITUSVILLE, Fla. — If you live in or near this Brevard County city, you might have noticed a bad smell coming off the Indian River lately.

  • Rotting smell permeating Indian River, Titusville residents say
  • City of Titusville says it's also taken calls about the bad odor
  • Investigation determined odor coming from rotting seagrass

"(It) seems like lately it's gotten incredibly worse," said Joel Worth, who lives in the Pelican Point apartments off U.S. 1, which is near the water. 

Over the past few days, he says the air has been unpleasant.

"It smells like a toilet, a toilet full," he said Friday.

Worth said the smell off the water is so rotten, he has to keep his doors and windows closed. His neighbors are complaining of the same thing.

The city said it's gotten calls about the bad odor. After an investigation, the city determined the cause to be seagrass swept onto the bank by easterly winds. As the grass dies, it's rotting, leaving behind the awful, permeating smell.

Believe it or not, there is an upside to the smell — the seagrass is even being seen at all. That's because it's one of the most important habitats in the Indian River Lagoon, needing sunlight to grow.

Decades of pollution and stormwater runoff have clouded the water, leading to drastic algae blooms and wildlife kills.

Worth isn't totally convinced that the seagrass explains the smell.

"If it is seagrass, why some days is it so bad it will knock you down, and other days, it's not so bad?" he asked.

Worth is hoping some water testing will be done to rule out other potential causes.

An overview of projects for the cleanup and restoration of Indian River Lagoon will be discussed during a free public forum from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, February  26, at the Florida Institute of Technology Gleason Performing Arts Center, at 50 W. University Blvd., Melbourne.