Red tide concentrations down

BY LESLIE LAKE SUN CORRESPONDENT | llake@amisun.com

ANNA MARIA ISLAND – The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) reported a range of very low to medium concentrations of the red tide organism K. brevis in Manatee County waters on Friday.

Those levels are down from the prior week, when on March 10, Longboat Pass showed high concentrations of the organism and medium levels were reported on Anna Maria Sound at Kingfish Boat Ramp and at the Anna Maria Island Rod and Reel Pier. Palma Sola Bay registered low levels of red tide that week.

March 17 FWC reports show very low levels at Longboat Pass and the Palma Sola Bay Bridge; and low levels at the Anna Maria Island Rod and Reel Pier. Medium levels were reported in lower Tampa Bay.

Medium levels can bring about respiratory irritation, shellfish harvesting closures, probable fish kills and can be detected by satellite.

Manatee and Coquina beaches showed no respiratory irritation or fish kills as of March 14, according to visitbeaches.org, the Mote Marine Laboratory beach conditions reporting system. Slight respiratory irritation and no fish kills were reported at Rod and Reel Pier, and on Anna Maria Island, slight respiratory irritation was reported along with dead fish on beach.

For updated information on red tide, visit the Red Tide Respiratory Forecast at RedTideForecast.com, which tells beachgoers what red tide impacts are expected to be at individual beaches at different times of the day. The forecast is also available in Spanish at PronosticoMareaRoja.com.

Beachgoers also can get updates at visitbeaches.org, the Mote Marine Laboratory beach conditions reporting system, which documents respiratory irritation and fish kills at local beaches.

Call 866-300-9399 from anywhere in Florida to hear a recording about red tide conditions throughout the state.