Red Tide Report (August 10, 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 low concentrations in two samples collected from Pinellas County, very low to high concentrations in eight samples collected from Manatee County, very low to high concentrations in 29 samples collected from Sarasota County, very low to high concentrations in 13 samples collected from or offshore of Charlotte County, background to high concentrations in 40 samples collected from or offshore of Lee County, and background to high concentrations in 12 samples collected from Collier County.

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

We continue to receive reports of fish kills in Southwest Florida. Over the past week, reports were received for multiple locations in Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties, and one location in Charlotte County. More detailed information is available at http://myfwc.com/fishkill.

Respiratory irritation was reported over the past week in Manatee County (8/3-8/10 at Coquina Beach, 8/3-8/4 and 8/6-8/10 at Manatee Beach), Sarasota County (8/2 and 8/5-8/10 at Lido Key; 8/2-8/4 and 8/6-8/10 at Manasota Beach; 8/2-8/4 and 8/6-8/10 at Nokomis; 8/2 and 8/4-8/10 at Siesta Key; 8/2-8/3, 8/7, and 8/10 at Venice Beach; 8/2-8/4 and 8/6-8/10 at Venice North Jetty), Lee County (8/2-8/4 and 8/8-8/10 at Bonita Beach; 8/3-8/9 at Bowman’s Beach; 8/3 and 8/7-8/10 at Captiva; 8/3-8/4 and 8/10 at Causeway Islands; 8/3 and 8/6-8/10 at Gasparilla Island; 8/2 and 8/6-8/10 at Light House Beach; 8/3-8/5 and 8/8 at Lovers Key State Park; 8/2, 8/6 and 8/8 at Lynn Hall Beach Park; 8/2-8/5 at Newton Park), and Collier County (8/2-8/4 at Barefoot Beach; 8/2 and 8/9 at Seagate Beach; 8/2 at South Marco Beach; 8/2 and 8/9 at Vanderbilt Beach).

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