Red Tide Report 02-09-18

A patchy 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 one sample collected offshore of Hillsborough County, background concentrations in one sample collected offshore of Sarasota County, background concentrations in one sample collected from Charlotte County, background to low concentrations in thirteen samples collected from or offshore of Lee County, background to medium concentrations in seven samples collected offshore of Collier County, and very low to medium concentrations in five samples collected from or offshore of Monroe County.

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

A fish kill was reported in Monroe County at Big Pine Key (2/7). Slight respiratory irritation was reported in Sarasota County at Manasota Beach (2/5). Forecasts by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Pinellas to Monroe counties predict net northwestern transport of surface waters and minimal transport of subsurface waters over the next three days.

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.