Florida Red Tide Mid-Week Update for June 16, 2021

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Current Conditions
A bloom of the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, persists in Southwest Florida. Over the past week, K. brevis was detected in 52 samples, with bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) observed in six samples from Pinellas County, three samples from Hillsborough County, and four samples from Manatee County. Additional details are provided below.

  • In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background to high concentrations in Pinellas County (in 15 samples), very low to medium concentrations in Hillsborough County (in six samples), background to medium concentrations in Manatee County (in 12 samples), background concentrations in Sarasota County (in five samples), low concentrations in Charlotte County (in one sample), background to very low concentrations in Lee County (in 11 samples), and background to very low concentrations in Collier County (in two samples). Samples collected offshore of Monroe County did not contain K. brevis.
  • 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 kills suspected to be related to red tide were reported in Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Manatee counties. For more details, please visit: https://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/health/fish-kills-hotline/.

Respiratory irritation suspected to be related to red tide was reported over the past week in Southwest Florida in Pinellas County. For current information, please visit: https://visitbeaches.org/.

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

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/).

The next complete status report will be issued on Friday, June 18th. 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.