Red Tide Status For 10.8.21

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 129 samples. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were observed in 47 samples: five in and offshore of Franklin County, two offshore of Dixie County, two offshore of Levy County, five in and offshore of Pasco County, 16 in and offshore of Pinellas County, five in Manatee County, 11 in Sarasota County, and one in Charlotte 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 high concentrations in Manatee County, background to high concentrations in or offshore of Sarasota County, background to high concentrations in Charlotte County, and background and very low concentrations in Lee County.
    • In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at very low concentrations in Escambia County, background to low concentrations in Okaloosa County, low concentrations in Walton County, background to medium concentrations in or offshore of Franklin County, very low to medium concentrations offshore of Dixie County, background to medium concentrations in or offshore of Levy County, and background to high 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 Franklin, Taylor, Dixie, Levy, Citrus, 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 Franklin, Pinellas, 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 to Monroe counties predict variable transport of coastal surface and subsurface waters over the next 3.5 days.

The next complete status report will be issued on Friday, October 15th. 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.