Red Tide Status Update: 12/11/24

Over the past week, the red tide organism Karenia brevis was detected in 101 samples collected from Florida’s Gulf Coast. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were observed in 17 samples: one from Pinellas County, one from Hillsborough County, seven from Sarasota County, one from Charlotte County, six from and offshore of Lee County, and one offshore of Collier County (StatewideTable1211).

We continue to use satellite chlorophyll imagery (USF, NOAA NCCOS) to track this patchy bloom. Imagery continues to vary from day to day. Imagery from December 9, available for areas without cloud cover, revealed small patches of moderate levels of chlorophyll along Florida’s Southwest Coast, located approximately 3 to 10 miles offshore of Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties. The recent imagery suggests that patches have been pushed southward, consistent with the southern transport expected from prior ocean circulation forecasts over the past few weeks.

Additional details are provided below.

• In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background to medium concentrations in Pinellas County, very low and medium concentrations in Hillsborough County, background to low concentrations in Manatee County, background to medium concentrations in Sarasota County, low and medium concentrations in Charlotte County, background to high concentrations in and offshore of Lee County, and background to medium concentrations in and offshore of Collier County.
• In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at very low concentrations in one sample collected offshore of Pasco County.
• Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.

Fish kills suspected to be related to red tide were reported to FWC's Fish Kill Hotline and other partners over the past week for Southwest Florida (along Pinellas County).

Respiratory irritation suspected to be related to red tide was reported over the past week in Southwest Florida (Pinellas and Sarasota counties). For forecasts that use FWC and partner data, please visit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Gulf of Mexico Harmful Algal Blooms Forecast.

Forecasts provided by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Pinellas County to northern Monroe County predict northward transport of surface waters through 12/11, followed by a reversal to southward transport through 12/14, and southeastern transport of subsurface waters over the next 3.5 days.

The next status report will be issued on Friday, December 13th. 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.