A patchy bloom of the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, persists in Southwest Florida. “High” cell concentrations (>1,000,000 K. brevis cells per liter) were observed in Sarasota County and offshore of Collier County. “Medium” K. brevis concentrations were detected in or offshore of these same counties and in Charlotte County. Additional details from statewide sampling are provided below.

• In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background to high concentrations in Sarasota County, very low to medium concentrations in Charlotte County, background to low concentrations offshore of Lee County, very low to high concentrations in or offshore of Collier County, and background to low concentrations offshore of Monroe County.
• In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.
• Along Florida’s East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.

No fish kills suspected to be related to red tide were reported this week (please see https://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/health/fish-kills-hotline).

Respiratory irritation was reported over the past week in Pinellas, Manatee, and Sarasota counties.

Forecasts by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Pinellas to northern Monroe counties predict net southern transport of surface and subsurface waters in most areas over the next four days.

A midweek status update will be available on Wednesday, January 23rd and the next complete status report will be issued on Friday, January 25th. 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.