Red Tide Update 1.13.23

Francesco Abbruzzino, The Uncensored Report, LLC

Via FWC

Current Conditions
The red tide organism, Karenia brevis was detected in 109 samples from and offshore of Southwest Florida and one sample along Florida’s East Coast over the past week. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were present in 17 samples: six in Manatee County, one offshore of Sarasota County, four offshore of Charlotte County, four offshore of Collier County, and two offshore of Monroe County. Additional details are provided below.

In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background to low concentrations in Pinellas County, background to low concentrations in or offshore of Hillsborough County, background to medium concentrations in or offshore of Manatee County, very low to medium concentrations in or offshore of Sarasota County, background to medium concentrations in or offshore of Charlotte County, background to low concentrations in or offshore of Lee County, background to high concentrations offshore of Collier County, and very low to medium concentrations offshore of Monroe County.
In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.
Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations in St. Johns County.

Reports of fish kills suspected to be related to red tide were received in Southwest Florida from Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, and Collier counties over the past week. For more details, please visit: https://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/health/fish-kills-hotline/ and https://visitbeaches.org/.

Respiratory irritation suspected to be related to red tide was reported via the Beach Conditions Reporting System over the past week in Southwest Florida in Pinellas, Manatee, and Sarasota counties. Reports of respiratory irritation from these counties were also received through the Fish Kill Hotline. 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 Pinellas County to northern Monroe County predict net southern/southeastern movement of surface waters and southeastern transport of subsurface waters in most areas over the next 3.5 days.

The next status report will be issued on Wednesday, January 18^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.