Red Tide Bloom Reaches Pinellas County Beaches, While Persisting In Southwest Florida

Over the past week, toxic red tide blooms have been detected in Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, Lee and Collier counties, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s mid-week update on Wednesday.

In all of those counties, except Hillsborough, fish kills were reported. And in Pinellas, people have also cited respiratory irritations.

The red tide organism Karenia brevis was observed at low to medium concentrations in Pinellas, low to medium concentrations in Hillsborough, background to medium concentrations in Manatee, background concentrations in Sarasota, background to medium concentrations in Lee, background to medium concentrations in Collier and low concentrations offshore of Monroe County.

The FWC said in its Wednesday report that samples collected from Charlotte County did not contain red tide.

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