Current Conditions
A patchy bloom of the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, persists along Florida’s Gulf Coast. Over the past week, K. brevis was detected in 49 samples. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were observed in 20 samples: one in Okaloosa County, two in Walton County, 10 in and offshore of Pinellas County, two in Manatee County, three offshore of Sarasota County, and two in and offshore of Charlotte County. Additional details are provided below.
In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background to high concentrations in or offshore of Pinellas County, background concentrations offshore of Hillsborough County, low to medium concentrations in Manatee County, background to medium concentrations in or offshore of Sarasota County, background to high concentrations in or offshore of Charlotte County, and background concentrations in Lee County.
In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at medium concentrations in Okaloosa County, medium concentrations in Walton County, very low concentrations in Franklin County, low concentrations offshore of Levy County, and very low concentrations offshore of Pasco County.
Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.
Fish kills suspected to be related to red tide were reported on the Florida Gulf Coast in or offshore of Okaloosa, Walton, Levy, Pasco, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, and Lee counties over the past week.
Respiratory irritation suspected to be related to red tide was reported over the past week on the Florida Gulf Coast in Okaloosa, Walton, Pinellas, Manatee, and Lee counties. For recent and current information at individual beaches, please visit https://visitbeaches.org/
FWC-FWRI is working closely with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and other partners on the Piney Point response effort. Status updates and results are posted on the Protecting Florida Together website (https://protectingfloridatogether.gov/PineyPointUpdate) and on the Tampa Bay Estuary Program website (https://shiny.tbep.org/piney-point/).
Red Tide report courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
