Red tide found in background concentrations east of St. Joe Bay in Gulf County and at the Bob Sikes Cut in Franklin County

(Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.) A bloom of the Florida red tide organism, Karenia brevis, persists in Southwest Florida from southern Pinellas to Lee counties. Over the past week, Karenia brevis was observed at background to very low concentrations in two samples collected from Pinellas County; background to medium concentrations in nine samples collected from Manatee County; background to high concentrations in twenty-eight samples collected from Sarasota County; background to medium concentrations in five samples collected from Charlotte County; background to high concentrations in twelve samples collected from Lee County; and background concentrations in one sample collected from Collier County. In northwest Florida, one sample collected from Gulf County and one from Franklin County each contained background concentrations of K. brevis. Additional samples collected throughout Florida over the past week did not contain K. brevis. Fish kills were reported along Siesta Key, Siesta Beach, and Nokomis (Sarasota County), and Bonita Beach (Lee County) over the past week. Respiratory irritation was reported along Lido Beach (Sarasota County). Forecasts for Southwest Florida by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides predict net southern movement of surface waters and southern, onshore movement of subsurface waters from Pinellas to northern Monroe counties 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 pageand learn interesting facts concerning red tide and other harmful algal blooms in Florida.

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