FWC red tide update 9.1.21

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, and cells were detected in 38 samples over the past week. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were observed in 10 samples: seven from Pinellas County, two from Charlotte County, and one from Lee County. Additional details are provided below.

In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at very low to high concentrations in and offshore of Pinellas County (in 12 samples), very low and low concentrations in Hillsborough County (in two samples), low concentrations offshore of Manatee County (in three samples), background to low concentrations in Sarasota County (in five samples), very low to medium concentrations in Charlotte County (in five samples), and background to medium concentrations in Lee County (in four samples). Samples collected from or offshore of Collier County did not contain K. brevis.
In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background and low concentrations offshore of Hernando County (in two samples) and background to low concentrations in and offshore of Pasco County (in five samples). Samples collected from or offshore of Okaloosa, Bay, Franklin, Taylor, Dixie, and Levy counties did not contain K. brevis.
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 along and/or offshore of Florida’s Gulf Coast in Citrus, 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, Sarasota, Charlotte, 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 Pinellas to northern Monroe counties predict net southeastern transport of surface and subsurface waters in most areas over the next 3.5 days.

FWC-FWRI is working closely with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and other partners on the Piney Point response effort. Status updates and results are posted on the Protecting Florida Together website (https://protectingfloridatogether.gov/PineyPointUpdate) and on the Tampa Bay Estuary Program website (https://shiny.tbep.org/piney-point/).

The next complete status report will be issued on Friday, September 3^rd. 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.