FWC Red Tide Update 10.27.21

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, where cells were detected in 117 samples over the past week. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were observed in 28 samples: five from Okaloosa County, 13 from and offshore of Bay County, three from Gulf County, two from offshore of Taylor County, one from offshore of Dixie County, one from Manatee County, two from Sarasota County, and one from offshore of Lee County. Additional details are provided below.

In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background to low concentrations in and offshore of Pinellas County (in five samples), background to medium concentrations in Manatee County (in 11 samples), background to high concentrations in Sarasota County (in 18 samples), background to medium concentrations in and offshore of Lee County (in four samples), and background concentrations in Collier County (in one sample). Samples collected from Charlotte County did not contain K. brevis.
In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at very low concentrations in Escambia County (in one sample), low to high concentrations in Okaloosa County (in six samples), background to high concentrations in and offshore of Bay County (in 18 samples), background to medium concentrations in and offshore of Gulf County (in 17 samples), very low to low concentrations in Franklin County (in five samples), background to medium concentrations in and offshore of Taylor County (in 12 samples), background to medium concentrations offshore of Dixie County (in three samples), background to low concentrations in and offshore of Levy County (in 15 samples), and low concentrations offshore of Hernando County (in one sample). Samples collected from or offshore of Santa Rosa, Walton, Wakulla, or Pasco counties did not contain K. brevis.
Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was not observed in samples collected from or offshore of St. Johns, Brevard, or Palm Beach counties.

Fish kills suspected to be related to red tide were reported on the Florida Gulf Coast in Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf, Franklin, Dixie, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, 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 Okaloosa, Franklin, Manatee, and Sarasota 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 County to Collier County predict net eastern/southeastern movement of surface and subsurface waters in most areas over the next 3.5 days.

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.