FWC Red Tide Update 10.22.21

Francesco Abbruzzino, The Uncensored Report, LLC

via FWC

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 130 samples. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were observed in 45 samples: 17 in and offshore of Bay County, three offshore of Gulf County, one in Franklin County, one offshore of Dixie County, two offshore of Levy County, five in and offshore of Pinellas County, six in Manatee County, nine in Sarasota County, and one offshore of Lee County. Thanks to our partners at USF and NOAA, we are using satellite imagery – with the most recent images shown in the provided maps – to track patches of elevated chlorophyll (as a proxy for algal biomass) along and offshore of the Panhandle (from Bay County extending eastward), along and/or offshore of the Big Bend, and along and/or offshore of Southwest Florida (from the Pasco/Pinellas County line to Lee 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 to medium concentrations in Manatee County, background to high concentrations in Sarasota County, very low concentrations in Charlotte County, and background to medium concentrations in or offshore of Lee County.
In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at very low concentrations in Escambia County, background to high concentrations in or offshore of Bay County, very low to medium concentrations in or offshore of Gulf County, very low to medium concentrations in Franklin County, background to medium concentrations offshore of Dixie County, background to high concentrations in or offshore of Levy County, and background 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 Bay, Gulf, Franklin, Taylor, Dixie, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, and Lee counties over the past week. 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 on the Florida Gulf Coast in Gulf, Franklin, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, and Lee counties. For recent and current information at individual beaches, please visit https://visitbeaches.org/ and for forecasts that use FWC and partner data, please visit https://habforecast.gcoos.org/.

Forecasts by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Escambia to Gulf counties predict western/northwestern movement of surface waters and minimal net transport of subsurface waters in most areas over the next 3.5 days. Minimal net movement of surface and subsurface waters are predicted in most coastal areas from Franklin to Pasco counties. Net southwestern movement of surface waters and southeastern net transport of subsurface waters are predicted in most areas from Pinellas to northern Monroe Counties.

The next complete status report will be issued on Friday, October 29^th. 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.