Red Tide update from FWC

SOUTHWEST COAST

Karenia brevis, the Florida red tide organism, was not detected in water samples collected this week alongshore between Pinellas and Collier counties.  One sample collected offshore of Sarasota County late last week contained very low concentrations of K. brevis. One sample collected offshore of the lower Florida Keys (Monroe County) contained background concentrations of K. brevis.

 

Fish Kills may be possible due to recent cold weather and are unlikely to be red tide related.  More information can be found in the following article on the FWRI website: (http://research.myfwc.com/features/view_article.asp?id=34439).

 

Visit (http://research.myfwc.com/features/category_sub.asp?id=4434) for the Florida Red Tide Current Status Report and select the statewide summary or a region of interest for more information and sampling details.

 

The University of South Florida's College of Marine Science Center for Prediction of Red Tides (http://cprweb.marine.usf.edu) uses coupled biophysical 3-D models to track and predict harmful algal blooms in the southeastern United States.  Various experimental products include Karenia flag maps of bloom locations (http://cprweb.marine.usf.edu/products/karenia-satellite-flags), 3.5 day HAB trajectory forecasts along with nowcasts, which are reports of current conditions, and forecast models (http://cprweb.marine.usf.edu/models).