The Red Tide Report

Current Conditions
The red tide organism, Karenia brevis, was observed in Southwest Florida, Northwest Florida, and on Florida’s East Coast over the past week. Additional details are provided below.

• In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations offshore of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, in Sarasota and Charlotte counties, and in and offshore of Lee County. K. brevis was observed at low concentrations offshore of Collier County, and very low concentrations offshore of Monroe County.
• In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at low concentrations in one sample collected from Okaloosa County. 
• Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations in one sample collected from Duval County.

No fish kills suspected to be related to red tide were reported over the past week (please see https://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/health/fish-kills-hotline).

No reports of respiratory irritation suspected to be related to red tide were received over the past week.

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

The next complete status report will be issued on Friday, January 17^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.