Bloom concentrations of the Florida red tide organism, Karenia brevis, persist on Florida’s Southwest and Northwest coasts. Lesser concentrations were observed in some East Coast counties. Patchiness continues to occur in each region. Additional details are provided below.

• Over the past week in Southwest Florida, K. brevis was observed in samples from and/or offshore of Pinellas to Monroe counties. Observations of >1,000,000 K. brevis cells per liter (“high” concentrations) occurred in and/or offshore of Pinellas, Sarasota, Charlotte, and Lee counties. “Medium” K. brevis concentrations were detected in these same general areas, and offshore of Monroe County. Relative to last week, K. brevis concentrations generally increased in northern Pinellas County and some areas in and/or offshore of Lee County.
• In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed in or offshore of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Bay, Franklin, and Pasco counties. “Medium” concentrations were observed in Santa Rosa County. Samples from Franklin County and offshore of Pasco County contained “background” levels (<1000 cells per liter) only.
• Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background and/or very low concentrations in Brevard, Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties. Relative to last week, K. brevis concentrations decreased in parts of Brevard and Martin counties.

In Southwest Florida, fish kill reports were received for multiple locations in Pinellas, Manatee, and Sarasota counties, and in and offshore of Charlotte County. In Northwest Florida, fish kills were reported in Okaloosa and Bay counties. Fish kills were not reported on the East Coast of Florida.

Respiratory irritation was reported over the past week in Southwest Florida (in Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota and Lee counties), Northwest Florida (in Escambia County), and on the East Coast (Palm Beach County).

Forecasts by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Pinellas to Monroe counties predict net southeastern transport of surface and subsurface waters in most areas over the next four days. Four-day forecasts for Escambia to western Gulf counties predict net southeastern surface transport and net eastern subsurface movement in most areas.

The next complete red tide status report will be posted on Friday, November 16th. Due to the holiday next week, a complete status report will be issued on Wednesday, November 21st. Please check our daily sampling map), which can be accessed via the online status report on our Red Tide Current Status page.

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.