Red Tide Report (July 27, 2018)

A 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 15 samples collected from Sarasota County, very low to high concentrations in four samples collected from Charlotte County, background to high concentrations in 19 samples collected from or offshore of Lee County, and background to high concentrations in 10 samples collected from Collier County.

In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations in one sample collected from Gulf 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 (Brohard Beach, Manasota Beach, Nokomis, Venice Beach, Venice North Jetty, Venice Pier), Charlotte County (Bull Bay, Englewood Beach, Lemon Bay), Lee County (Blind Pass Beach, Bonita Beach, Bowman’s Beach, Captiva Beach, Causeway Islands, Cayo Costa, Fort Myers Beach, Gasparilla Island, Laika Lane, Lovers Key State Park, Lynn Hall Beach Park, Newton Park, Sanibel Beach, Sunset Beach, Turner Beach) and Collier County (Barefoot Beach, Doctors Pass, Edgewater Beach, Gordon Pass, Lowdermilk Park, Naples Pier, Park Shore Beach, Tigertail Beach, Vanderbilt Beach).

Respiratory irritation was reported over the past week in Sarasota County (7/19 at Lido Key; 7/20-7/24 and 7/26-7/27 at Manasota Beach; 7/19-7/22 and 7/24-7/27 at Nokomis; 7/26 at Siesta Key; 7/19-7/24 and 7/26-7/27 at Venice Beach; 7/19-7/27 at Venice North Jetty), Lee County (7/21-7/22 and 7/25-7/27 at Bonita Beach; 7/22 and 7/24-7/25 at Bowman’s Beach; 7/23-7/26 at Captiva; 7/27 at Causeway Islands; 7/19 at Cayo Costa; 7/20-7/27 at Gasparilla Island; 7/24 at Light House Beach; 7/25-7/27 at Lovers Key State Park; 7/25-7/26 at Lynn Hall Beach Park), and Collier County (7/21-7/22 and 7/24-7/26 at Barefoot Beach; 7/23 at Doctors Pass and Gordons Pass; 7/23 at Park Shore Beach; 7/25-7/26 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.