Mote Marine Laboratory reports decreased signs of red tide in Manatee, Sarasota counties

MANATEE -- Though red tide has maintained a presence in Manatee and Sarasota counties for some time, scientists with the Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium say the harmful algal bloom's presence is higher in Pinellas County, just to the north of Manatee.

Dr. Tracy Fanara, a staff scientist with Mote Marine Laboratory, said she's received numerous emails this week about respiratory irritation from areas in Pinellas County.

"This week, I had numerous emails from Treasure Island, Madeira Beach, and Redington Beach," she said, adding that red tide algae was detected in high and medium concentrations in the county. "I did not receive any emails from Anna Maria Island visitors about respiratory irritation, human health effects or dead fish in or off shore."

According to the latest available red tide status report from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Karenia brevis (the name of the bloom of the red tide organism) was detected in background to very low concentrations in 23 samples collected from Manatee and Sarasota counties, as opposed to background to high concentrations in 18 samples collected from Pinellas County.

"K. Brevis is natural to this area. It's been around

for a long time and it's usually present at what we call background concentrations -- usually under 1,000 cells per liter is background," said Dr. Vincent Lovko, staff scientist and manager of the Phytoplankton Ecology Program at Mote Marine Laboratory. "We expect to see K. brevis at those lower concentrations when we do our normal samplings. It's not alarming. When it starts to get above that, even just a little bit above like 2,000 or 3,000, then it's something to pay attention to. That doesn't mean it's a bloom, but it's something to pay attention to."

Lovko said scientists first detected an intense presence of K. brevis cells that seemed to focus on Manatee and Sarasota counties back in September.

"That's where it seemed to persist, then it got into the Sarasota Bay and the Tampa Bay," he said, adding that earlier this year the cell count then decreased greatly to where more or less it appeared that the bloom had diminished.

Fanara recommended the public to check the laboratory's beach conditions system report "to see which beaches do not have respiratory irritation or dead fish to have a positive beach experience."

For information, visit visitbeaches.org.

Amaris Castillo, law enforcement/island reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7051. Follow her on Twitter @AmarisCastillo.

This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 11:10 PM with the headline "Mote Marine Laboratory reports decreased signs of red tide in Manatee, Sarasota counties ."