FWC RED TIDE REPORT JANUARAY 10, 2025
NOW IN LEY COUNTY
VIEW MAP OF FLORIDA COUNTIES BY CLICKING ON "READ MORE" BELOW.
Current Conditions
Over the past week, the red tide organism Karenia brevis was detected in 86 samples collected from the Gulf Coast of Florida. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were observed in 22 samples: one from Manatee County, 13 from Sarasota County, three from Charlotte County, one from Lee County, and four from Collier County. We continue to use satellite chlorophyll imagery (USF, NOAA NCCOS) to track this bloom and imagery varies from day to day. Images from January 9 revealed a patch of chlorophyll about 15 miles offshore of Collier County. A second area of smaller patches is located about 20 miles west of Monroe County and 30 miles north of the Florida Keys. It is likely that K. brevis and/or other species are contributing to these offshore patches, but we cannot say definitively at this point; sampling is ongoing this afternoon and results will be made available next week.
Additional details are provided below.
• In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background to low concentrations in Pinellas County, background to medium concentrations in Manatee County, background to high concentrations in Sarasota County, background to high concentrations in Charlotte County, background to medium concentrations in Lee County, and very low to medium concentrations in Collier County.
• In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at very low concentrations in one sample collected offshore of Levy County.
• Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.
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 (Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties).
Respiratory Irritation suspected to be related to red tide was reported over the past week in Southwest Florida (Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier 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 variable movement of surface and subsurface waters over the next 3.5 days.
The next status report will be issued on Wednesday, January 15th. 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.
*******
