Red tide update for Sarasota County 7.31.21

Francesco Abbruzzino, The Uncensored Report, LLC

 

 

Current Conditions
A bloom of the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, persists on the Florida Gulf Coast and in Lower Tampa Bay. Conditions remain improved in other areas of Tampa Bay relative to prior weeks.  Over the past week, K. brevis was detected in 103 samples. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were observed in 70 samples: seven from Pasco County, 24 from Pinellas County, six from Manatee County, 27 from Sarasota County, four from Charlotte County, and 2 from Lee County. Additional details are provided below.

  • In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background to high concentrations in and offshore of Pinellas County, low to high concentrations in Manatee County, low to high concentrations in Sarasota County, medium to high concentrations in Charlotte County, background to medium concentrations in and offshore of Lee County, and background to very low concentrations in Collier County.
  • In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations offshore of Levy County, low concentrations offshore of Citrus County, very low to low concentrations offshore of Hernando County, and background to medium concentrations in and offshore of Pasco County.
  • Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.

On Florida’s Gulf Coast, fish kills suspected to be related to red tide were reported in Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier 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 Florida’s Gulf Coast in Pasco, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, and Lee counties. Additional details are provided in the Southwest Coast and Northwest Coast reports and for current information, please visit: https://visitbeaches.org/.

Forecasts by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Pinellas to northern Monroe counties predict south-southeastern movement of surface and subsurface waters in most areas over the next 3.5 days.