Florida: Red Tide Minimal on Florida Coast

The red tide organism, Karenia brevis, was observed at background concentrations in one Southwest Florida sample over the past week. Additional details are provided below.

• In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations in one sample from Manatee County.
• 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.

Patchy Trichodesmium blooms continue to persist in offshore waters of Southwest Florida, based on recent satellite chlorophyll imagery provided by USF and NOAA. Over the past week, this alga was present at trace levels in a few inshore samples from Florida’s East coast. This alga blooms each year, has not been shown to be toxic in Florida’s waters, and often resembles sawdust but can change color as it decomposes. For more information, please see recent posts on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/FLHABs) and information about Trichodesmium on our website (https://myfwc.com/research/redtide/general/trichodesmium/).

No fish kills suspected to be related to red tide were reported over the past week (please see https://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/health/fish-kills-hotline).

No reports of respiratory irritation were received over the past week.

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.

The next complete status report will be issued on Friday, August 14th. Please check our daily sampling map, which can be accessed via the online status report on our Red Tide Current Status page. For more information on algal blooms and water quality, please visit Protecting Florida Together.

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.