Red Seaweed Washed Up onto the Beach at the Bay
Current Conditions
The red tide organism, Karenia brevis, persists in Southwest Florida. Over the past week, K. brevis was detected in 27 samples.
Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were observed in six samples from Lee County and one sample from Collier County. Recent satellite imagery (3/10-3/11; USF) indicated the presence of chlorophyll patches along and/or offshore of Lee and Monroe counties.
- In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at very low concentrations in Sarasota and Charlotte counties. Background to medium concentrations were observed in and offshore of Lee County and in Collier County.
- In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.
- Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.
A fish kill suspected to be related to red tide was reported over the past week in Lee County. For more details, click here.
Respiratory irritation was reported over the past week in Southwest Florida in Sarasota and Lee counties. For current information, click here.
Forecasts by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Pinellas to northern Monroe counties predict net western movement of surface waters and southeastern transport of subsurface waters in most areas over the next four days.
The next complete status report will be issued on Friday, March 19th. Please check the 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 has a Facebook page. Please like our page and learn interesting facts concerning red tide and other harmful algal blooms in Florida.
*This press release was provided by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission on 3/12/2021
