Red Tide Status Update for February 22, 2019

Current Conditions
The red tide organism, Karenia brevis, was not observed in samples collected over the past week. Additional details are provided below.

• In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.
• In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.
• Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.

In Southwest Florida over the past week, fish kill reports were received for Collier County (please see https://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/health/fish-kills-hotline).

Respiratory irritation was reported over the past week in Pinellas, Manatee, and Lee counties. 

Forecasts by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Pinellas to northern Monroe counties predict net northern transport of surface waters and minimal movement of subsurface waters over the next four days in most areas.

A midweek status update will be available on Wednesday, February 27^th and the next complete status report will be issued on Friday, March 1^st. 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.