Red tide status for 12.9.22

Francesco Abbruzzino, The Uncensored Report, LLC

 

Current Conditions
The red tide organism, Karenia brevis, was detected in 69 samples collected from Southwest Florida over the past week. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were present in 29 samples: four in and offshore of Pinellas County, four offshore of Hillsborough County, two in Manatee County, and 19 in Sarasota 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, very low to high concentrations in and offshore of Hillsborough County, background to medium concentrations in and offshore of Manatee County, background to high concentrations in Sarasota County, low concentrations in Charlotte County, background to low concentrations in Lee County, and background concentrations in Collier 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 not observed.

Reports of fish kills suspected to be related to red tide were received in Southwest Florida from Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, 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 via the Beach Conditions Reporting System over the past week in Southwest Florida in Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Lee, and Collier 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/southwestern movement of surface waters and net eastern/southeastern transport of subsurface waters in most areas over the next 3.5 days.

The next status report will be issued on Wednesday, December 14th. 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.