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Red Tide Status Update: 2/21/25

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Over the past week, red tide was detected in 37 samples collected from Florida. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were observed in four samples: two from Sarasota County, and two offshore of Monroe County.

We continue to use chlorophyll satellite imagery (USF, NOAA NCCOS) to track offshore patches suspected to contain K. brevis, although images for Southwest Florida have been obscured by cloud cover over the past few days.

Additional details are provided below.

  • In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background to very low concentrations in Pinellas County, very low and low concentrations in Hillsborough County, background to low concentrations in and offshore of Manatee County, background to high concentrations in and offshore of Sarasota County, background and low concentrations offshore of Charlotte County, background concentrations offshore of Collier County, and background to medium concentrations offshore of Monroe County.
  • In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations in one sample collected from Okaloosa County.
  • Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations in one sample collected from Duval County.

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 (from and/or offshore of Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, Collier, and Monroe counties).

Respiratory Irritation suspected to be related to red tide was reported over the past week in Southwest Florida (from and/or offshore of Hillsborough, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, Collier, and Monroe 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 by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Pinellas County to northern Monroe County predict net southwestern movement of surface waters and net southeastern transport of subsurface waters in most areas over the next 3.5 days.

The next status report will be issued on Wednesday, February 26. 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.

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