Current Conditions
Over the past week, the red tide organism Karenia brevis was detected in 83 samples in and offshore of Southwest Florida, three samples from Northwest Florida, and one sample from Florida’s East Coast. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were present in three samples: two in Manatee County and one in Lee 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 background to low concentrations in Pinellas County, background to low concentrations offshore of Hillsborough County, background to medium concentrations in Manatee County, background to low concentrations in Sarasota County, background concentrations in Charlotte County, background to medium concentrations in Lee County, and background to low concentrations in and offshore of Collier County.
- In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations in one sample collected from Bay County, and at background concentrations in two samples collected from Gulf County.
- Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations in one sample collected from Palm Beach County.
Reports of fish kills suspected to be related to red tide were received from Southwest Florida over the past week from Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Lee, and Collier 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 via the Beach Conditions Reporting System and/or the Fish Kill Hotline in Southwest Florida in Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, and Collier 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.
Forecasts by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Pinellas County to northern Monroe County predict variable movement of surface waters and net southeastern transport of subsurface waters in most areas over the next 3.5 days.
The next status report will be issued on Friday, March 31st. 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.
