Red Tide Report (December 21, 2018)

Current Conditions
The red tide organism, Karenia brevis, persists in Southwest Florida, although conditions continue to improve in most areas. K. brevis was also observed at background levels in one East Coast sample and one Northwest Florida sample this past week. Additional details are provided below.

• In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at very low to high concentrations in Manatee County, background to very low concentrations in Sarasota County, very low concentrations in Charlotte County, background to very low concentrations in and offshore of Lee County, background concentrations in and offshore of Collier County, and very low concentrations offshore of Monroe County. 
• In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations in one sample collected from Bay County. 
• Along Florida’s East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations in one sample collected from Brevard County. 

Fish kills were not reported over the past week (please see https://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/health/fish-kills-hotline/).

Respiratory irritation was reported over the past week in Southwest Florida (in Manatee, Sarasota, Lee and Collier counties). 

Forecasts by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Pinellas to northern Monroe counties predict variable transport of surface and subsurface waters over the next four days, with net southeastern movement at the surface, and net southern movement at depth.

Due to the holiday next week, the next available report will be the full report on Friday, December 28th. Please check our daily sampling map, which can be accessed via the online status report on our Red Tide Current Status page.

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.

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.