Red tide hits Anna Maria Island but ‘nothing like 2018 so far.’ Here’s where it could go next

The sight, smell and taste were all too familiar on Wednesday morning at the North Coquina boat ramp in Bradenton Beach: piles of decaying fish and seagrass, a foul stench and a tickle in the back of the throat eventually followed by a cough.

High levels of Karenia brevis, the algae that causes red tide in the Gulf of Mexico, were detected in a water sample taken in the intracoastal waterway just south of the South Coquina boat ramp, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.

High levels of red tide can cause respiratory irritation, fish kills and water discoloration.

Those who work on the water are acquainted with the signs.

“I have had some irritation on the back of my throat. I have seen some fish kill,” said Patrick Morris, owner and operator of Twisted Anchor Boats, which offers rentals.

“Nothing like 2018 so far,” Morris said, referring to the devastating red tide that summer.

High levels of red tide have also been detected to the south in the Gulf and intracoastal waters of Sarasota County. The red tide blooms off of Sarasota County are drifting in mostly a northwesterly direction, according to University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science trajectory models.

The red tide bloom near the Coquina boat ramps, however, originated there and is drifting into the northern end of Sarasota Bay and then back out into the Gulf.

Very low levels of K. brevis were detected in two samples off the north end and bay side of Anna Maria. Those two blooms are drifting further north into the mouth of Tampa Bay and west out into the Gulf, according to the same models. One water sample also found very low concentrations in Palma Sola Bay near the causeway. That bloom is drifting into the intracoastal waters along Anna Maria.

As the drift occurs, a four-day forecast model predicts high red tide concentrations could affect intracoastal Manatee and Sarasota waters over the next several days. Continued high concentrations are also possible in Gulf-side coastal waters from Longboat Key to around Bradenton Beach, according to the model from USF and the Florida Wildlife Research Institute.

As a Coral Shores resident, Morris recalled the havoc created by red tide in 2018 in the canals in his neighborhood that lead out to Sarasota Bay.

“Don’t need a repeat of 2018 because I do live in Coral Shores and that was the epicenter and nobody knew how to handle the cleanup,” Morris said. “If it does happen this time, hopefully we’ll have a better response from the county government, help us clean up.”

“I hope it doesn’t linger around too long, like 2018, because it could affect our business dramatically,” Morris said.

Anna Maria Island beach conditions

Slight respiratory irritation and dead fish in the water were reported on Coquina Beach on Wednesday morning and afternoon, according to Mote Marine Laboratory’s beach conditions tracker. The system is updated by lifeguards as conditions change.

Farther north, slight respiratory irritation was also reported in Holmes Beach on Wednesday afternoon. No negative impacts from red tide were noted in Anna Maria.

Health officials advise people not to swim where red tide is present at high concentrations, especially when dead fish are present.

People who have asthma or respiratory conditions can be more severely affected by red tide and may want to avoid affected areas.

This story was originally published July 14, 2021 at 3:28 PM.