Red Tide Status Update from Florida Fish and Wildlife Commision

November 27th, 2019 –

Current Conditions A bloom of the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, persists in Southwest Florida. Additional details are provided below.

  • In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations in Pinellas County, background to medium concentrations in Sarasota County, very low to high concentrations in and/or offshore of Charlotte, Lee and Collier counties and low concentrations offshore of Monroe County. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 K. brevis cells per liter) persist in Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties. These include an estuarine site in Sarasota County, estuarine sites in Charlotte County, and coastal, estuarine, and offshore sites in Lee and Collier counties. High concentrations (>1 million cells per liter) were observed in 12 samples from Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties. For additional information, view the Southwest Coast report and map.
  • In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was not observed. For additional information, view the Northwest Coast report and map.
  • Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was not observed. For additional information, view the East Coast report and map.

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

Respiratory Irritation was reported over the past week in Southwest Florida in Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties. Additional details are provided in the Southwest Coast report.

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

A midweek status update will be issued on Wednesday, December 4th and the next complete status report will be issued on Friday, December 6th. 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.

READ MORE at myFWC.com