Red Tide Status Update

• InSouthwest Floridaover the past week,K.breviswas observed at background to medium concentrations in Pinellas County, background and very low concentrations in Manatee County, background to low concentrations in Sarasota County, background to low concentrations in Charlotte County, background to medium concentrations in and offshore of Lee County, background to low concentrations in and offshore of Collier County, and low concentrations offshore of Monroe County.
• InNorthwest Floridaover the past week,K.breviswas observed at low concentrations offshore ofTaylor County (please visithttps://myfwc.com/redtidemapfor more details).
• Along theFlorida East Coastover the past week,K.breviswas not observed.

Reports of fish kills suspected to be related to red tide were received from Southwest Florida over the past week from Sarasota County.For more details, please visithttps://myfwc.com/research/ saltwater/health/fish-kills- hotline/andhttps://visitbeaches.org/.

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 in Southwest Florida in Pinellas, Sarasota, and Lee counties.For recent and current information at individual beaches, please visithttps://visitbeaches.org/and for forecasts that use FWC and partner data, please visithttps://habforecast.gcoos.org/ .

Forecastsby theUSF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tidesfor Pinellas County to northern Monroe County predict variable surface currents with net western movement and southeastern transport of subsurface waters in most areas over the next 3.5 days.

The next status report will be issued on Friday, April 21^st. Please check ourdaily sampling map, which can be accessed via the online status report on ourRed Tide Current Statuspage. For more information on algal blooms and water quality, please visitProtecting Florida Together.

This information, including maps and reports with additional details, is also available on theFWRI Red Tide website. The website also provides links toadditional informationrelated 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 TideFlickrpage. Archived status maps can also be found on Flickr.

The FWRI HAB group in conjunction with Mote Marine Laboratory now have afacebookpage. Pleaselike our pageand learn interesting facts concerning red tide and other harmful algal blooms in Florida.