Red Tide Status Update: 12/18/24

Over the past week, red tide was detected in 65 samples collected from Florida's Gulf and Atlantic coasts. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were observed in eight samples: one from Hillsborough County, six from Sarasota County, and one offshore of Lee County.  

We continue to use satellite chlorophyll imagery (USF, NOAA NCCOS) to track this patchy bloom, and imagery continues to vary daily. Imagery from December 17 reveals a 75-mile-long patch of elevated chlorophyll along Florida’s Southwest Coast, located approximately five to 10 miles offshore of Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties and extending about 35 miles across at its widest point. The recent imagery suggests that chlorophyll patch(es) have been pushed southward, consistent with the southern transport expected from prior ocean circulation forecasts from the past few weeks.  

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 Hillsborough County, very low to low concentrations in Manatee County, background to medium concentrations in Sarasota County, very low concentrations in Charlotte County, very low to high concentrations in and offshore of Lee County, and background to low concentrations in Collier County.
• In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at very low concentrations in one sample collected from Franklin County.
• Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was observed at very low concentrations in one sample collected from Brevard 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 (along Sarasota and Lee counties).

Respiratory irritation suspected to be related to red tide was reported over the past week in Southwest Florida (Sarasota, 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 net southwestern transport of surface waters and net southern to southeastern transport of subsurface waters in most areas over the next 3.5 days.

The next status report will be issued on Friday, December 20^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.