Current Conditions
Over the past week, the red tide organism Karenia brevis was detected in 123 samples from and offshore of Southwest Florida. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were present in 79 samples from Southwest Florida: 26 in and offshore of Pinellas County, eight in Manatee County, 27 in Sarasota County, five in Charlotte County, four in Lee County, eight in Collier County, and one offshore of Monroe County. We continue to use satellite imagery (USF and NOAA NCCOS) to help track this patchy event. Additional details are provided below.
- In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at very low to high concentrations in and offshore of Pinellas County, low to high concentrations in Manatee County, very low to high concentrations in Sarasota County, background to high concentrations in Charlotte County, background to high concentrations in Lee County, low to high concentrations in Collier County, and very low to medium concentrations offshore of Monroe County.
- In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.
- Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.
Reports of fish kills suspected to be related to red tide were received in Southwest Florida over the past week from Pasco, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, Collier, and Monroe counties. For more details, please visit https://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/health/fish-kills-hotline and https://visitbeaches.org.
Over the past week, respiratory irritation suspected to be related to red tide was reported in Southwest Florida via the Beach Conditions Reporting System and/or the Fish Kill Hotline at multiple sites in Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, Collier, and Monroe counties. For recent and current information at individual beaches, please visit https://visitbeaches.org and for forecasts that use FWC and partner data, please visit https://habforecast.gcoos.org.
Forecast by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Pinellas County to northern Monroe County predict net western movement of surface waters and southeastern transport of subsurface waters in most areas over the next 3.5 days.
The next status report will be issued on Friday, March 10th. Please check our daily sampling map, which can be accessed via the online status report on our Red Tide Current Status page. For more information on algal blooms and water quality, please visit Protecting Florida Together.
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.
