Red Tide Reports 08-15-14

Red Tide Summary: August 15, 2014

A large offshore bloom of Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, has been detected this month in the northeast Gulf of Mexico. Last week, satellite images from the Optical Oceanography Laboratory at the University of South Florida showed a patchy bloom up to 60 miles wide and 90 miles long, at least 20 miles offshore between Dixie and northern Pinellas counties in northwest and southwest Florida. Recent satellite images have been unreliable due to cloud cover. FWC’s Fish Kill Hotline has received numerous reports of a widespread fish kill.

This week, K. brevis was detected in very low concentrations in several samples collected offshore of Pinellas county. Four samples collected inshore of Manatee and Sarasota counties and one sample collected offshore of Wakulla County contained background concentrations of K. brevis. No bloom concentrations of red tide have been detected alongshore or inshore of any of the areas sampled.  Forecasts by the Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides show slow southeast movement of water where the bloom was last detected.

Additional samples collected throughout Florida this week did not contain K. brevis.