Red Tide Report 11-20-15

(Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.) Based on satellite images, fish kill reports, and analysis of water samples, blooms of the Florida red tide organism Karenia brevis are currently present along Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, and Gulf counties in Northwest Florida and Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and northern Collier counties in Southwest Florida. In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was detected in medium concentrations in one sample collected alongshore of Escambia County; low concentrations in one sample collected offshore of Okaloosa County; background to medium concentrations in 8 samples collected inshore of Bay County; and low to medium concentrations in 7 samples collected inshore of Gulf County. In Southwest Florida, K. brevis was detected in background to low concentrations in 9 samples collected along and offshore of Pinellas County; very low to medium concentrations in 9 samples collected in and alongshore of Manatee County; low to high concentrations in 28 samples collected in and alongshore of Sarasota County; very low to medium concentrations in 6 samples collected in and alongshore of Charlotte County; background to low concentrations in 4 samples collected alongshore of Lee County; and very low concentrations in one sample collected alongshore of Collier County. Along the Gulf Coast, samples were not collected over the past week from Walton, Wakulla, Jefferson, Taylor, Dixie, Citrus, Hernando, or Hillsborough counties. FWC continues to receive reports of fish kills and respiratory irritation in bloom areas in both Northwest and Southwest Florida. The USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides forecasts bloom patches to move slightly west in Northwest Florida and slightly south in Southwest Florida over the next three days. 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.

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