. >> this is number five. >> reporter: the oldestti ted at 40 years old. >> tarpon can survive at lowgen environment because they have an air bladder. >> so it should be able to handle a red stide, but t is such a dramatic red tide. >> yes, extended period of red ti possibly some other contaminants. >> reporter: scientists expl iing theact of runoff from population booms, farm fertilizers and phosphate mining believe when old tarpon are dying, it's the canary in the coal mine. >> this isn anomaly. it's going to keep changing until we change ourvi or. >> reporter: amid all the gloom, an unexpected visitor. a bottle nosed dolphin. that's a good sign, isn't it? >> llo. hello. beautiful. beautiful. this is what nature and h environment looks like. >> reporter: and then 26 hours and 39 minutes after andy began fishing for rpon, using a vintage scarborough reel, he finally>>ooks one. ook at that wonderful fish. it's a small one, but a beautiful one. r: after seeing all of those that died, what do you think? >> it gives me a little hope that there are yng ones that haven't died. i'm a little

. >> reporter: after the tarpon, that's a good sign, isn't it? >> beautiful.d then 26 hours, 39 minutes after andy began fishing for tarpon -- >> yow! there you go. >> reporter: using a vintage scarborough reel, he finally hooks one. >> look at that wonderful fish. it's a small one, but it's a tarp tarpon. >> reporter: andy who catches and always releases. >> i just love it. >> reporter: and after seeing all of those that died, what do you think? >> it gives me a little hope that there are young ones that haven't died. i'm a little bit more optimistic. >> reporter: for "today," kerry sanders, nbc news on florida's pain island sound. >> goodness. >> fascinating. >> that red tide is -- scary. here's the thing -- that reel that he's using, by the way, that's a real fisherman. >> look at him. his exuberance, he loves what he does for sure. >> you can catch more of andy's show, "fishing for giants," this wednesday night, 9:00 eastern on the smithsonian channel. >> all right. >>> dylan, what's coming up in the orange room? >> listen to this -- have your friends ever

dead tarpon, dead manatees, a dead will shark. the pictures are certainly horrifying enough, but in person, and i'm a native floridian, five generations, it breaks my heart to see our beaches and rivers like this, and it's not a partisan issue. that bill that you talked about, that i introduced a year ago, we passed it. we can never get the house to get off dead center to pass it. senator rubio and i are on that bill together.pa it's not a partisan issue. we have worked with colleagues regardless of party for the good of our states, and we want to secure funding for research on the algae bloomslo and the projects to restore things like the river of grass, the florida everglades, which sends the water south as mother nat intended, instead of having to dump itf to the east and to the west,he and when it goes through that river of grass, it is cleansed so when w it comes out in the florida bay down by the keys,is or when it goes in the river slough, it comes out on the west coast in the gulf of mexico and its clean water. that's why

aad tarpon, dead manatees, dead well shark. the pictures are certainly horrifying enough, but in person , and i am a native floridian, five generations, it breaks my heart to see our beaches and rivers foul like this. and it is not a partisan issue. that bill that you talked about that i introduced a year ago, we passed it. we can never get the house to get off of dead center to pass it. senator rubio and i are on that bill together. it is not a partisan issue. we worked with colleagues regardless of party for the good of our states, and we want to secure funding for research on the algae blooms and the projects to restore things like the river of grass, the florida everglades, which sends the water south as mother nature intended, instead of having to dump it to the east and to the west. and when it goes through that river of grass, it is cleansed so when it comes out into florida bay down by the keys or when it goes in the river and comes out on the west coast and the gulf of mexico, it is clean water. and that is why we are

fernando simpson of jackson, mississippi and michael burn hart of tarpon springs, florida. >> you knowhis is going to be a free for all. shoot anything you want. anything that moves. as long as it's not one of your own. >> shoot everything. man, woman, children. the whole bit. anything from a, b, c, every living thing. that was sort of like the order. >> this is something a soldier has to do, take orders, carry them out. >> run around yelling kill, kill, kill just to get it in our heads, to get that feeling that you can do it. >> that morning about 7:00, we boarded the choppers and went into the village. when we got off the chopper we started shooting. >> they were infants, in fact. it makes you think that even, even if they were considered beasts, that you would think that maybe a water buffalo calf or piglet would fare better than a child. >> we figured the babies had they grew up would be vc anyway so why get the opportunity to grow up. >> how did the guys look when they were doing this? >> they looked like they were having a good time. >> did you see anybody not? >> no. just about

michael bernhardt of tarpon springs, florida. this is a freefall, you can share anything you want. >> man, woman, children, the whole bit. every living thing, that was the order. >> it's something that i soldier has to do, you take orders. >> we were running around, kill, kill, kill. get that feeling that you can do it. >> at about 7:00, we went into the village and we got off the chopper and started shooting. >> it makes you think that even if they were considered beasts, that you would think that maybe a water buffalo calf or a little piglet would fare better than a child. >> they feel that when they grow, they will be beasts anyway. >> how do they look when you are doing this. >> like they were having a good time. >> everybody was just a busy. >> what you think a war crime is? >> i think a war crime is being over there. >> just the idea of being there. >> infants, women, children. teenagers. civilians. >> lieutenant william callie who was commander in -- responsible was brought to justice. people tend to forget that there were