Bloom concentrations of the Florida red tide organism, Karenia brevis were detected in Southwest Florida this past week. In Sarasota County, observations of “high” K. brevis concentrations (>1 million cells per liter) occurred at two coastal sites and one offshore site; “medium” concentrations (>100,000 and <1 million cells per liter) occurred in two inlet samples. Background concentrations of K. brevis were observed in one Lee County sample. K. brevis was not observed in other samples collected statewide. 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 Sarasota County, and background concentrations in Lee County.
• In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was not observed in samples collected from or offshore of Franklin, Citrus, or Pasco counties.
• Along Florida’s East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was not observed in samples collected from Brevard, Palm Beach, or Miami-Dade counties.

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

Respiratory irritation was reported over the past week in Southwest Florida (in Manatee County). Additional details are provided in the Southwest Coast report.

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

A midweek status update will be available on Wednesday, January 9th and the next complete status report will be issued on Friday, January 11th. Please check our daily sampling map, which can be accessed via the online status report on our Red Tide Current Status page.

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 TideFlickr 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.

Additional information regarding the current status of algal blooms in South Florida is being consolidated and posted on the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s website: https://floridadep.gov/dear/algal-bloom.