Red Tide Midweek Update for November 6, 2024

Francesco Abbruzzino, The Uncensored Report, LLC

VIA FWC

Current Conditions
Over the past week, the red tide organism Karenia brevis was detected in 51 samples collected from Florida’s Gulf Coast. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were not observed (StatewideTable1106.pdf). Satellite imagery (NOAA, USF) from Monday (11/4) continues to show a large offshore patch (>165 miles long) of elevated chlorophyll spanning Pasco to Collier counties, and a few isolated patches further north, off of the Big Bend region. Confirmatory offshore sampling was not possible over the past week due to weather. We suspect that red tide continues to be present offshore, however, we are seeing other algal species dominant in nearshore samples (mostly diatoms, occurring with and without red tide present) and it is possible that the chlorophyll signal represents a mixed assemblage, not just red tide. Offshore sampling over the next week will help provide more information.

Additional details are provided below.

In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background to very low concentrations in Pinellas County, very low to low concentrations in Manatee County, background to low concentrations in Sarasota, Charlotte and Lee counties, and background concentrations in Collier County.
In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background and very low concentrations in Franklin 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 to FWC’s Fish Kill Hotline and other partners over the past week for Southwest Florida (along Pinellas, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties and offshore of Collier County).

Respiratory irritation suspected to be related to red tide was reported over the past week in Southwest Florida (along Pinellas, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties, and offshore of Collier County). For forecasts that use FWC and partner data, please visit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Gulf of Mexico Harmful Algal Blooms Forecast.

Forecasts by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Pinellas County to northern Monroe County predict net northwestern 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 Friday, November 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.

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.

To learn more about various organisms that have been known to cause algal blooms in Florida waters, see the FWRI Red Tide Flickr page. Archived status maps can also be found on Flickr.

The FWRI HAB group in conjunction with Mote Marine Laboratory now have a facebook page. Please like our page and learn interesting facts concerning red tide and other harmful algal blooms in Florida.