Red Tide Status Update
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News
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- In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background to high concentrations in and offshore of Pinellas County, low to medium concentrations offshore of Hillsborough County, very low to medium concentrations in Manatee County, background to medium concentrations in and offshore of Sarasota County, background to medium concentrations in Charlotte County, background to medium concentrations in Lee County, background to high concentrations in and offshore of Collier County, and very low to low concentrations offshore of Monroe County.
- In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations in Bay and Gulf counties, and low to medium concentrations in and offshore of Pasco County.
- 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 along the Florida Gulf Coast over the past week from Pasco, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Lee, and Collier counties. For more details, please visit https://myfwc.com/research/
Over the past week, respiratory irritation suspected to be related to red tide was reported via the Beach Conditions Reporting System and/or the Fish Kill Hotline along the Florida Gulf Coast in Pasco, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Lee, and Collier 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 Pasco County to northern Monroe County predict variable 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 Friday, March 17th. 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.
MAR 17, 2023 • Like any living organism an increase in nutrient supply results in an increase in the population. Red Tide is fed by the explosion of phosphate and nitrogen nutrients in the water. If we want to save our beaches we have to reduce the excessive amounts of these nutrients that are deposited into our rivers and out of our sewage treatment plants. Phosphate is a nonrenewable element that can be harvested from our rivers. Excessive nitrogen can also be removed from our rivers and sewage via varying processes. We need to focus our efforts and the upgrading our sewage and waste water treatment plants to recovery these elements before they are discharged into our water ways. It is unacceptable that there should ever be a spillage of raw sewage into our water ways due to the inability of a processing plant to handle a major rain event. We live in Florida and we should be prepared for these events. Big sugar, the phosphate industry over fertilization of farm land and excessive development are the main culprits creating this disaster. They should be taxed to provide the means to clean up the mess. Phosphate and recovery plants could be set up on our major rivers emptying into the gulf to remove these nutrients before they enter the gulf.