Red Tide Report (July 20, 2018)

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 to high concentrations in 12 samples collected from Sarasota County, low to high concentrations in 11 samples collected from or offshore of Charlotte County, background to high concentrations in 20 samples collected from or offshore of Lee County, and background to low concentrations in nine samples collected from or offshore of Collier County.

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

Over the past week, fish kills were reported in Southwest Florida in Sarasota County (Casperson Beach, Manasota Beach, Nokomis, Siesta Key Beach, Venice Beach, Venice North Jetty), Charlotte County (Lemon Bay, Little Gasparilla Island), Lee County (Boca Grande Beach, Bonita Beach, Bowman’s Beach, near Burnt Store Marina, Captiva Beach, Cayo Costa, Fort Myers Beach, Gasparilla Island, near Laika Lane, Sanibel Beach) and Collier County (Barefoot Beach, South Marco Beach). 

Respiratory irritation was reported over the past week in Sarasota County (7/12, 7/16, 7/18-7/19 at Lido Key; 7/12, 7/17-7/18, and 7/20 at Manasota Beach; 7/16 and 7/19-7/20 at Nokomis; 7/16 and 7/18-7/20 at Venice Beach and Venice North Jetty), Lee County (7/19 at Cayo Costa, 7/20 at Gasparilla Island State Park), and Collier County (7/12-7/13 at South Marco Beach).

Forecasts by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Pinellas to northern Monroe counties predict net southeastern transport of surface and 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.