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 concentrations in one sample collected from Manatee County, low concentrations in one sample collected from Charlotte County, background to medium concentrations in 10 samples collected from Lee County, and background to low concentrations in nine samples collected from Collier County.
In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations in three samples collected from Bay County and 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 Lee County (Bonita Beach, Causeway Islands, Ft. Myers Beach, Knapps Point, Nerita Beach, Sanibel Beach, Gasparilla Island, Lighthouse Beach, Lovers Key, Newton Park, and Tarpon Bay) and Collier County (Barefoot Beach and Vanderbilt Beach). Respiratory irritation was reported over the past week in Lee (4/13 – 4/14 at Bonita Beach; 4/19 at Lynn Hall Beach Park) and Collier (4/14, 4/16 – 4/17, and 4/19 at Barefoot Beach; 4/16 at South Marco Beach; 4/19 at Vanderbilt Beach) counties.
Report courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
