A bloom of the Florida red tide organism, Karenia brevis, was observed along Lee and Charlotte counties in Southwest Florida over the past week.

In Southwest Florida, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations in one sample collected from Manatee County, background to low concentrations in fourteen samples collected from Sarasota County, background to medium concentrations in five samples collected from Charlotte County, background to high concentrations in twenty-one samples collected from Lee County, and very low concentrations in one sample collected from Collier County.

Additional samples collected throughout Florida this past week did not contain K. brevis.

Small-scale fish kills were reported along Charlotte and Lee counties over the past week. Slight respiratory irritation was reported along Lee County on12/13/17. Forecasts for Southwest Florida by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides predict net southern transport of surface and subsurface waters from Pinellas to Lee 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 page and learn interesting facts concerning red tide and other harmful algal blooms in Florida.