Red Tide Status Update: 12/19/25

Over the past week, red tide was observed in 29 samples from Florida’s Gulf Coast. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were observed in four samples from Northwest Florida. We continue to use satellite imagery (USF and NOAA NCCOS) to help track nearshore and offshore conditions.

Additional details follow.

• In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations offshore of Hillsborough County, very low concentrations offshore of Manatee County, and background concentrations offshore of Monroe County.
• In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background to medium concentrations in Bay County, very low to low concentrations in Gulf County, and background to very low concentrations in Franklin County.
• Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.

No Fish kills suspected to be related to red tide were reported to FWC's Fish Kill Hotline or other partners over the past week.

Respiratory Irritation suspected to be related to red tide was not reported over the past week in Florida. For forecasts that use FWC and partner data, please visit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Gulf Coast Harmful Algal Blooms Forecast.

Short-term (3.5 day) forecasts provided by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides predict variable movement of surface waters from Bay County to Manatee County, with net southwestern to southern transport from Sarasota County to northern Monroe County. Variable subsurface currents are predicted from Bay County to Gulf County, with minimal subsurface transport from Franklin County to Pasco County, and eastern to southeastern subsurface movement along Pinellas County to Northern Monroe County.

Due to the upcoming holiday, the next status report will be issued on Tuesday, December 23^rd. 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.       

Please follow our facebook page for status updates and other interesting facts about red tide and other harmful algal blooms in Florida.