Red tide is back in Southwest Florida and around Anna Maria Island. How bad is it?
A patchy red tide continues to plague the coasts of Southwest Florida.
The harmful algal bloom’s current range spans from offshore Charlotte to offshore Pasco County, including waters off of Sarasota, Anna Maria Island, Tampa Bay and the Gulf coast of Pinellas County, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
In Manatee County, red tide was detected Monday at bloom level in three samples around Anna Maria Island. At bloom level, negative impacts of red tide — including respiratory irritation and fish kills — are likely. One of the samples was collected in Anna Maria at the Rod and Reel Pier. The other two samples were collected off of Bradenton Beach; one was taken from waters on the Gulf side of the island and one came from Intracoastal waters near Longboat Pass.
Numerous dead fish were reported Wednesday at Manatee Public Beach and Coquina Beach, while respiratory irritation was reported at Coquina.
Visitors to the island have posted photos of murky water and accounts of dead sea life in the sand in recent days. However, many were able to find parts of the island where conditions were pleasant enough to enjoy the beach. Red tide conditions are known to change rapidly as the blooms move with winds and tides. Its patchy nature means that beaches close in proximity can have vastly different conditions.
Elsewhere along Manatee County’s coastline, red tide was not detected at significant levels. However, the algae has cropped up again in water samples collected in Tampa Bay, which saw a brief reprieve from the blooms in recent weeks. The red tide-causing algae, Karenia brevis, was observed at “very low” to “medium” levels in eight water samples in Tampa Bay. They were collected from south of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge to around the Manatee-Hillsborough county line.
Red tide weekend forecast
Red tide conditions could continue to hang around through this weekend, according to a forecast produced by the University of South Florida and the Florida Wildlife Research Institute.
Forecast maps show medium levels of the algae persisting around Anna Maria Island in the coming days, as well as very low to medium levels around Sarasota Bay and Longboat Key.
Pinellas County is expected to continue seeing the worst of the red tide with low, medium and high levels of K. brevis possibly remaining along the county’s Gulf coast beaches.
More broadly, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s red tide forecast predicts a “high risk of shore bloom intensification” along Southwest Florida coastlines. Satellite imagery shows large swaths of algae lingering up and down the coastline, with some particularly intense areas of the bloom sitting just offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 10:59 AM.