Red Tide is returning to some area beaches on the Suncoast

Francesco Abbruzzino, The Uncensored Report, LLC

via the 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 103 samples. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were observed in 30 samples: three in Okaloosa County, one in Walton County, one offshore of Hernando County, three in and offshore of Pasco County, 10 in and offshore of Pinellas County, five in Manatee County, and seven in Sarasota County. Additional details are provided below.

In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at low to high concentrations in or offshore of Pinellas County, background to low concentrations in Hillsborough County, background to medium concentrations in Manatee County, background to high concentrations in Sarasota County, very low to low concentrations in Charlotte County, and background and low concentrations in Lee County.
In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background to medium concentrations in or offshore of Okaloosa County, very low and medium concentrations in Walton County, very low and low concentrations in Bay County, very low concentrations in Gulf County, background to very low concentrations offshore of Dixie County, background to low concentrations in or offshore of Levy County, medium concentrations offshore of Hernando County, and background to medium concentrations in or 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 or offshore of Walton, Dixie, Levy, Hernando, 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 in southwest Florida in 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 Pasco counties predict net western transport of coastal surface waters in most areas and variable transport of subsurface waters over the next 3.5 days. Forecasts for Pinellas to northern Monroe counties predict net northwestern transport of surface waters and variable movement of subsurface waters.

The next complete status report will be issued on Friday, October 8^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.