Florida’s latest red tide update shows the organism that causes the blooms at low levels in limited Gulf Coast areas, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
During the past week, Karenia brevis was found at background concentrations in Charlotte and Lee counties and offshore of Monroe County in Southwest Florida. Very low concentrations were also detected in Gulf County in Northwest Florida.
No Karenia brevis was observed along Florida’s East Coast during the reporting period, FWC said.
The agency also received no reports of fish kills suspected to be connected to red tide and no reports of red-tide-related respiratory irritation in Florida over the past week.
For waters from Pinellas County to northern Monroe County, a short-term forecast from the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides calls for generally southwestern-to-southern movement of surface waters and southern-to-southeastern movement of subsurface waters over the next 3.5 days.
FWC said its next status report is scheduled for Friday, October 2. The agency’s online current-status page includes a daily sampling map and additional red tide information.
