Red Tide Mid-Week Update for January 11, 2023

Here's the current red tide update for January 11:

The red tide organism, Karenia brevis, was detected in 72 samples collected from and offshore of Southwest Florida over the past week. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were present in 16 samples. One offshore of Pinellas County. Seven in Manatee County. Two in Sarasota County. Two offshore of Charlotte County. Two offshore of Collier County. Finally, two offshore of Monroe County. Additional details are provided below.

Reports of fish kills suspected to be related to red tide were received in Southwest Florida from Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, and Collier counties over the past week. For more details, please visit https://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/health/fish-kills-hotline/ and https://visitbeaches.org/.

suspected to be related to red tide was reported via the Beach Conditions Reporting System and/or the Fish Kill Hotline over the past week in Southwest Florida in Pinellas County (Boca Ciega Bay, Indian Shores Beach), Manatee County (Anna Maria Beach, Anna Maria Island Rod and Reel Pier, Anna Maria Public Beach, Coquina Beach, Longboat Key Beach, Manatee Beach, Pine Avenue Canal), Sarasota County (Blind Pass Beach, Lido Key Beach, Longboat Key, Manasota Key Beach, Manasota North Beach, Nokomis Beach, Siesta Key Beach, Snake Island, South Lido Key Beach, Stump Pass Park, Turtle Beach, Venice Beach, Venice North Jetty Beach), and Charlotte County (Manasota Key Beach). For recent and current information at individual beaches, please visit https://visitbeaches.org/ and for forecasts that use FWC and partner data, please visit https://habforecast.gcoos.org/.

by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Pinellas County to northern Monroe County predict net southern movement of surface waters and southeastern transport of subsurface waters in most areas over the next 3.5 days.

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

That's the Red Tide January 11 update. Tune in to Reel Talk, Saturday mornings.

The sawfish is listed as a critically endangered species, so seeing one is quite rare. Catching one while fishing off the beaches of Florida, rarer still. They are really only found in Northern Australia and Florida. The sawfish can grow up to 25 feet in length (Oh My God!) and estimates place their numbers remaining in the 500 range left in the world. So when these guys fishing off the coast of Florida caught one, they knew it needed to be safely returned. 'Safely" being the key word here.

According to Wikipedia "Sawfish are actually docile and harmless to humans, except when captured, where they can inflict serious injuries when defending themselves by thrashing the saw from side-to-side." And you don't wanna be on the bad side of that saw. They can cut a fish in half with one quick flip. I image they could do the same with a persons leg.

This thing looked like a chainsaw in the water until you saw it's eyes. And then at the end of the video to find out that this was this guy's first fish he ever caught? Insane. But you've peaked my dude, it's never gonna get better than this.

He was fishing with a guide from Apex Anglers, who specialize in catch-and-release shark fishing.