Red Tide Update

Florida Waters Current Conditions    (Dec 18)

The red tide organism, Karenia brevis, was observed at bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells per liter) in one sample from Southwest Florida over the past week. Additional details are provided below.

• In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at low and medium concentrations in Charlotte County, background to very low concentrations in and/or offshore of Lee County, and background to low concentrations in and/or offshore of 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. 

In Southwest Florida over the past week, a fish kill report was received for Charlotte County (please see https://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/health/fish-kills-hotline).

Respiratory irritation was reported over the past week in Southwest Florida in Charlotte County.

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

The next status report will be issued on Friday, December 20^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.