![]() ![]() FWC’s red tide offshore monitoring program – a way for volunteers to help.Red tide and human health – information and rack cards from Florida Department of Health: /environmental-health/aquatic-toxins/harmful-algae-blooms/index.html.Red tide background info from Mote and FWC, respectively (including FAQs): /redtide and /research/redtide/.Mote’s Beach Conditions Reporting System provides shoreline observations as often as twice daily: /map.Mote’s CSIC app allows users to report when and where they experience respiratory irritation or see discolored water or dead fish - all potential indications of Florida red tide.Based on statewide results, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides forecasts of potential respiratory irritation: /.FWC’s statewide red tide status reports (on abundance of the Florida red tide algae, Karenia brevis) are typically updated every Friday afternoon: /research/redtide/statewide (with mid-week reports on Wednesdays). A daily sampling map can also be found at the top of the current status page (updated daily at 5 pm).To report fish kills, contact the FWC Fish Kill Hotline at 80 or submit a report online.Where can I get more health and safety information on harmful algae? Is it OK to eat local finfish during a red tide?ĭoes cooking or freezing destroy the Florida red tide toxin? Is it OK to eat recreationally harvested shellfish during a red tide? Is it OK to eat shellfish at a restaurant or purchase shellfish from a seafood market during a red tide? (also known as commercially caught or store bought) What are some hints for visiting beaches during red tides? What should I do to lessen the effects?Ĭan I swim in the ocean when there’s a Florida red tide bloom? I don’t have a chronic lung disease, but still seem to be affected by the toxins. Red tide seems to affect me even when I’m not right on the beach. Is there a group of people who should avoid the beach during Florida red tide? Will I experience respiratory irritation during a Florida red tide? Is the Florida red tide found in estuaries, bays or freshwater systems?Ĭan we predict where a red tide will occur? How long does a Florida red tide bloom last? How does the Florida red tide, Karenia brevis, kill fish? Has coastal (nutrient) pollution caused the Florida red tide?Ĭan coastal nutrient pollution worsen an existing Florida red tide that has moved to shore?ĭo freshwater outflows from Lake Okeechobee affect Florida red tide blooms that have moved to the Charlotte Harbor area?ĭo blue-green algae (a group of species called cynobacteria) affect Florida red tide (Karenia brevis)? ![]() Similar toxins can be produced by other algal blooms.How can I find out what current red tide conditions are? The algae that cause red tides in Florida produce brevetoxins, which attack the nervous systems of fish, shellfish and birds as well as humans and other mammals. Algal blooms can be worsened by fertilizer runoff from farming and waste from sewage treatment plants, but Frankovich says that doesn’t seem to be the case with red tides in Florida. In addition to warm waters, Frankovich says red tides are fueled by naturally occurring upwellings of nutrient-rich water. “But a lot of times they persist throughout the entire year and make the next year's bloom even larger.” Fish are washed ashore the Sanibel causeway after dying in a red tide on Aug. ![]() “They seem to start up in the late summer, then they persist for about four months into late fall, and then they die back,” he says of red tides in Florida. Thomas Frankovich, a Florida International University biologist who studies algal blooms around Key Largo, Florida, says red tides occur when water temperatures are high. But algal blooms can be caused by many different species of algae. In Florida and Texas, red tides are caused by an alga called Karenia brevis. They’re also common along the coast of California and in the Gulf of Maine. In the United States, they are common along the Texas coast, and they occur almost every summer along the Gulf Coast of Florida. Red tides occur in coastal waters all over the world. Spanish explorers heard stories of “red water” from Florida Indians in the 16th century. The earliest reports of red tides are from Japan in the 8th century. ![]()
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