Start making those beach plans. Red tide still totally gone in Florida, report says
The latest official red tide report brings more great news for Florida waters.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reported Friday that coastal waters along the entire state are still completely free of the harmful Karenia brevis algae that killed off hundreds of tons of fish in Manatee County and beyond.
Officials said that 13 samples taken from Manatee waters indicated that red tide was not present. The same could be said for every other testing area across the state, according to the report.
The FWC first reported that Florida waters were free of red tide-causing K. brevis algae on Wednesday. Friday’s update confirmed that it’s still gone.
Despite the absence of red tide, the FWC has received reports of respiratory issues associated with the algae in Manatee, Pinellas and Lee counties. A fish kill was also reported in Collier County, where background concentrations of K. brevis were detected last week.
For more information, call (866) 300-9399 anytime from anywhere in Florida to get the latest red tide status report. Call (727) 552-2448 from outside Florida.
This story was originally published February 22, 2019 at 4:01 PM.
