Red Tide Persists Along Southwest Florida Beaches
An FWC report March 11, 2013
Southwest Coast
[dropcap]A[/dropcap]bloom of Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, persists in some parts of southwest Florida, with the highest concentrations detected this week alongshore of Charlotte County and offshore of Lee County. Very low to medium concentrations were patchy along shore and inshore of Sarasota County and very low to low concentrations were found in the Pine Island Sound system (Lee County).
Karenia brevis
Bloom Boundary
The red tide currently affects about 70 miles of the southwest Florida coast, extending alongshore and inshore of Sarasota County south through the middle of Lee County.
Northwest Coast
Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, was not detected in samples collected this week alongshore of Bay, Wakulla or Dixie counties or offshore of Levy County.
East Coast
Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, was not found in water samples collected this week in the Indian River Lagoon (Brevard County) or alongshore of Dade County.
You can access this week’s interactive Google Map in the attached file.
The FWRI HAB group in conjunction with Mote Marine Laboratory, have created a facebook page where you can learn about the Florida Red Tide and other Harmful agal blooms. Please visit and like our page today at: facebook.com/FLHABs
Karenia brevis
To learn more about other organisms that have been known to cause algal blooms in Florida waters, see our flickr page at flickr.com and click on “Harmful Algal Bloom Species.”
In order to view this map, you must have Google Earth installed on your computer. The Google Earth software can be downloaded from the Google Earth Web site through the following link: earth.google.com.
This information is also available on our Web site: myfwc.com .
The Web site 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: Red tide.
