Health Department issues red tide advisory for parts of Anna Maria Island

The Florida Department of Health in Manatee County issued red tide advisories Thursday for select beaches of Anna Maria Island.

Health officials said samples taken have shown the presence of Karenia brevis, the organism responsible for red tide, in low to moderate levels at the north and south ends of the island.

“People should use caution when visiting the beaches,” the health department said in a prepared statement.

People may experience mild and short-lived respiratory symptoms in the affected areas similar to having a mild cold. Those who suffer from breathing problems such as asthma, may experience more severe symptoms.

The symptoms generally go away when you leave the area or go indoors into an air conditioned environment.

Manatee DOH recommends the following:

• Do not swim around dead fish at these locations.
• If you have a chronic respiratory condition, use caution and consider staying away from areas affected by red tide.
• Do not eat shellfish or distressed fish from these locations.
• Keep pets and livestock away from the water, sea foam and dead fish.
• Residents living in beach areas are advised to close windows and run the air conditioner.
• If outdoors, residents should wear paper filtered masks to reduce symptoms.

The advisory comes a day after samples showed patchy areas of red tide off of several beaches along Anna Maria Island as Manatee County staff reported about 40 tons of red-tide related debris, including dead fish, had been taken to the landfill thus far.

The advisories are just the latest to be issued as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has already reported strong to low levels of red tide in other areas of the island, including Palma Sola and Tampa bays, as well as medium conditions offshore of Holmes Beach.

Forecast conditions note that the patchy blooms of red tide could linger around the island at least through Saturday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has recently launched a respiratory conditions forecast that allows people to check up-to-date red tide conditions on individual beaches. As of Wednesday afternoon, very low to moderate levels of irritation were predicted for beaches on Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key. See the latest respiratory forecast at habforecast.gcoos.org.

Mote Marine Laboratory also provides daily updates on the red tide impacts via its beach conditions tracker, which is updated by lifeguards. See the latest reports at visitbeaches.org.

Meanwhile, red tide still maintains a strong hold on shorelines to the south of Manatee County. Bloom levels of K. brevis were observed up and down Sarasota County’s coastline in recent days, including high concentrations around Longboat Key, Lido Key and at the south end of Casey Key.

Reporter Ryan Ballogg contributed some information for this story.

This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 11:05 AM.