Red tide growing in Bay County

Current Conditions
A bloom of the Florida red tide organism, Karenia brevis, persists in Southwest Florida and extends along ~130 miles of coastline, from northern Pinellas to Lee counties, and extends offshore (10 miles or more). A patchy bloom of K. brevis was also observed in Northwest Florida for the first time this past week.

In Northwest Florida, K. brevis was observed in seven counties this week, compared to only one county last week (Bay County). Observations of >1,000,000 K. brevis cells per liter (“high” concentrations) occurred only in Southwest Florida (in or offshore of Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, and Lee counties). More specific details are provided below.

• In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at very low concentrations in Santa Rosa County, very low concentrations in Okaloosa County, very low concentrations in Walton County, background to medium concentrations in or offshore of Bay County, background concentrations in Gulf County, background concentrations in Franklin County, and very low concentrations in Pasco County. For additional information, view the northwest coast report and map .

Relative to last week, increased K. brevis concentrations were observed at multiple locations in Southwest Florida (in Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte counties). Decreased concentrations were observed in southern Lee and Collier counties.

• In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at background to high concentrations in or offshore of Pinellas County, background to high concentrations in Manatee County, background to high concentrations in Sarasota County, medium to high concentrations in or offshore of Charlotte County, background to high concentrations in or offshore of Lee County, and background concentrations in or offshore of Collier County. For additional information, view the southwest coast report and map .
• Samples collected along the east coast of Florida over the past week did not contain K. brevis. For additional information, view the East Coast report and map .

Fish Kills
In Southwest Florida, reports of fish kills were received for multiple locations in and/or offshore of Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte and Lee counties. In Northwest Florida, reports of fish kills were received in and/or offshore of Walton and Bay counties. More detailed information is available at http://myfwc.com/fishkill.

Respiratory Irritation
Respiratory irritation was reported over the past week in Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, and Lee counties. For additional information, view the Southwest Coast report . 

Forecast
Forecasts by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Pinellas to northern Monroe counties predict net southern movement of surface waters and net southeastern transport of subsurface waters over the next three days for most areas. Forecasts for Northwest Florida predict net eastern transport of surface and subsurface waters for most areas.