A bloom of the Florida red tide organism, Karenia brevis, persists in Southwest Florida.

Posted by RWDH on 03 08 2018.

A bloom of the Florida red tide organism, Karenia brevis, persists in Southwest Florida. In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations in two samples collected from Pinellas County, background concentrations in two samples collected from Manatee County, background to high concentrations in 24 samples collected from or offshore of Sarasota County, low to high concentrations in 10 samples collected from Charlotte County, background to high concentrations in 27 samples collected from or offshore of Lee County, and very low to high concentrations in nine samples collected from Collier County.

Additional samples collected throughout Florida over the past week did not contain K. brevis.

We continue to receive reports of fish kills in Southwest Florida. Over the past week, reports were received for two locations in Manatee County, and multiple locations in Sarasota County, in Charlotte County, in and offshore of Lee County, and in an offshore of Collier County. More detailed information is available at http://myfwc.com/fishkill.

Respiratory irritation was reported over the past week in Manatee County (8/3 at Coquina Beach), Sarasota County (7/28 and 8/1-8/2 at Lido Key; 7/26-7/28, and 7/31-8/3 at Manasota Beach; 7/26-8/3 at Nokomis; 7/26 and 7/30-8/2 at Siesta Key; 7/26-7/29 and 7/31-8/3 at Venice Beach; 7/26-8/3 at Venice North Jetty), Lee County (7/26-8/3 at Bonita Beach; 7/31-8/3 at Bowman’s Beach; 7/26-7/27, 7/30 and 8/1 at Captiva; 7/27-7/29, 8/1 and 8/3 at Causeway Islands; 7/26-8/3 at Gasparilla Island; 7/31 and 8/2 at Light House Beach; 7/26-7/27, 7/30-8/1 and 8/3 at Lovers Key State Park; 7/26-7/28, 7/30-7/31 and 8/2 at Lynn Hall Beach Park; 7/27 and 7/29-8/2 at Newton Park), and Collier County (7/26-8/2 at Barefoot Beach; 7/29-8/2 at Seagate Beach; 7/26, 7/28, and 8/2 at South Marco Beach; 8/2 at Vanderbilt Beach).

Forecasts by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Pinellas to northern Monroe counties predict net northwestern transport of surface waters and southeastern movement of subsurface waters for most areas over the next three days.

Additional information regarding the current status of algal blooms in South Florida is being consolidated and posted on the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s website: https://floridadep.gov/dear/algal-bloom.

This information, including maps and reports with additional details, is also available on the FWRI Red Tide website. The website also provides links to additional information related to the topic of Florida red tide including satellite imagery, experimental red tide forecasts, shellfish harvesting areas, the FWC Fish Kill Hotline, the Florida Poison Information Center (to report human health effects related to exposure to red tide), and other wildlife-related hotlines.

To learn more about various organisms that have been known to cause algal blooms in Florida waters, see the FWRI Red Tide Flickr page. Archived status maps can also be found on Flickr.

The FWRI HAB group in conjunction with Mote Marine Laboratory now have a Facebook page.  Please like our page and learn interesting facts concerning red tide and other harmful algal blooms in Florida.