Red tide has been popping up more along Florida’ Gulf Coast this month, with more areas of medium and high concentrations in multiple counties, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Over the past week, 63bloom concentration samples of the algae dinoflagellate Karenia brevis were detected from Southwest Florida, according to the FWC, which does water samples off the coast daily and updates its website several times a week.
Southwest Florida is reporting high concentrations in Pinellas County with 15 samples as of Wednesday’s update.
There were also reports of fish kills believed to be linked to red tide in Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Manatee Counties.
Red tide is a naturally occurring phenomenon, but massive blooms of the algae can lead to respiratory irritation for humans, water discoloration and marine life deaths because of the lack of oxygen in the water.
Some medium concentrations were found in Hillsborough County among six samples taken while 12 samples in Manatee County suggest a medium concentration of red tide.
Charlotte, Collier, and Monroe Counties all showed very low concentrations of red tide as well.
It has not been observed in Northwest Florida and the east coast of Florida, according to the FWC.
There have been reports of respiratory irritation in Pinellas County over the last week but FWC predicts there will be minimal transport of red tide beneath the water in most areas over the next four days.
