Red Tide is Back…Elevated Levels Found at Many Sarasota & Manatee Beaches

Red Tide is Back…Elevated Levels Found at Many Sarasota & Manatee Beaches

In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at low to high concentrations in and offshore of Pinellas County (in 21 samples), background to medium concentrations in Manatee County (in nine samples), background to high concentrations in and offshore of Sarasota County (in 22 samples),

Most Sarasota Sarasota County, beaches have elevated levels of red tide

From Longboat Key all the way south to Blind Pass in Englewood..

These beaches include the following:

• Longboat Key
• Bird Key Park/Ringling Causeway
• North Lido
• Lido Casino
• South Lido
• Nokomis Beach
• North Jetty
• Venice Beach
• Service Club
• Venice Fishing Pier
• Brohard Park
• Caspersen
• Manasota Key
• Blind Pass

Manatee County is also experiencing Red Tide at Several Beaches on Anna Maria Island…

Remember, Some people may have mild respiratory symptoms. Those who have existing breathing problems might experience more severe effects.

Normally, those symptoms disappear once you leave the beach or go inside.

Here is the Latest Full Report from FWC

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Red Tide Mid-Week Update for September 29, 2021

Current Conditions

A patchy bloom of the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, persists along Florida’s Gulf coast, where cells were detected in 99 samples over the past week. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were observed in 42 samples: seven from Okaloosa County, three from Walton County, two from and offshore of Pasco County, 14 from and offshore of Pinellas County, five from Manatee County, nine from and offshore of Sarasota County and two from offshore of Charlotte County. Additional details are provided below.

• In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at low to high concentrations in and offshore of Pinellas County (in 21 samples), background to medium concentrations in Manatee County (in nine samples), background to high concentrations in and offshore of Sarasota County (in 22 samples), and background to high concentrations in and offshore of Charlotte County (in five samples). Samples collected from or offshore of Lee, Collier, and Monroe counties did not contain K. brevis.

Fish kills suspected to be related to red tide were reported on the Florida Gulf Coast in or offshore of Okaloosa, Walton, Dixie, Levy, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, and Lee counties over the past week. For more details, please visit:https://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/health/fish-kills-hotline/.

Respiratory irritation suspected to be related to red tide was reported over the past week on the Florida Gulf Coast in Okaloosa, Walton, Manatee and Sarasota counties. For recent and current information at individual beaches, please visithttps://visitbeaches.org/and for forecasts that use FWC and partner data, please visithttps://habforecast.gcoos.org/.

Forecasts by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Escambia to Gulf counties predict variable transport of surface and subsurface coastal waters over the next 3.5 days. Forecasts for Wakulla to northern Monroe counties predict net western/southwestern movement of surface waters and southeastern transport of subsurface waters in most areas.

FWC-FWRI is working closely with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) and other partners on the Piney Point response effort. Status updates and results are posted on the Protecting Florida Together website (https://protectingfloridatogether.gov/PineyPointUpdate) and on the Tampa Bay Estuary rogram website (https://shiny.tbep.org/piney-point/).

The next complete status report will be issued on Friday, October 1st. 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.