Red Tide Status Update for October 15, 2021

Current Conditions
A patchy bloom of the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, persists along Florida’s Gulf Coast. Over the past week, K. brevis was detected in 157 samples. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were observed in 61 samples: one in Bay County, one in Franklin County, two in and offshore of Pasco County, 13 in and offshore of Pinellas County, 10 in and offshore of Manatee County, 30 in Sarasota County, one in Charlotte County, and three in Lee County. K. brevis was also detected at background concentrations along Florida’s East Coast. Thanks to our partners at USF and NOAA, we are using satellite imagery – shown in the provided maps – to track patches of elevated chlorophyll (as a proxy for algal biomass) along the Panhandle (from Bay County extending eastward), offshore of the Big Bend (and along Dixie and Levy counties), and along Southwest Florida (from the Pasco/Pinellas County line to Lee County). Additional details are provided below.

• In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background to high concentrations in or offshore of Pinellas County, very low to low concentrations in Hillsborough County, very low to high concentrations in or offshore of Manatee County, very low to high concentrations in or offshore of Sarasota County, background to medium concentrations in Charlotte County, and background to medium concentrations in or offshore of Lee County.
• In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at low concentrations in Santa Rosa County, background to very low concentrations in Okaloosa County, background to low concentrations in Walton County, background to medium concentrations in Bay County, background to low concentrations in Gulf County, low to medium concentrations in Franklin County, very low concentrations offshore of Taylor County, background and low concentrations offshore of Dixie County, background to low concentrations in or offshore of Levy County, very low concentrations offshore of Hernando County, and low to medium concentrations in or offshore of Pasco County.
• Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations in St. Johns County.

Fish kills suspected to be related to red tide were reported on the Florida Gulf Coast in Bay, Gulf, Franklin, Levy, 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 on the Florida Gulf Coast in Franklin, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, 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 Escambia to Gulf counties predict southern/southwestern movement of surface waters and eastern transport of subsurface waters in most areas over the next 3.5 days. Net southern movement of surface waters and minimal coastal movement of subsurface waters are predicted in most areas from Franklin to Pasco Counties. Net southern/southwestern movement of surface waters and southeastern transport of subsurface waters are predicted in most areas from Pinellas to northern Monroe Counties.

The next complete status report will be issued on Friday, October 22^nd. 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.