Red tide left Pinellas beachgoers’ lives in December, but the Sarasota Herald-Tribune said that folks in Sarasota and Manatee counties had to navigate pockets of the bacteria bloom over the weekend.
On Wednesday, Florida Fish and Wildlife (FWC) lab tests determined that the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, was not present in Manatee County, but a Herald-Tribune reporter at the beach on Saturday saw visitors covering their faces and coughing.
“Very low to high levels of red tide were observed at Lido and Siesta Beachs [sic],” Carlos R. Munoz wrote, “and low levels near Turtle Beach, where beachgoers were also hacking.”
FWC’s January 4 red tide report confirmed the Sarasota bloom and added that respiratory irritation was reported over the past week in Manatee County. No fish kills of the sort associated with last year's massive bloom have been reported.
Forecasts by the University of South Florida-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Pinellas to northern Monroe counties predict northern and then southwestern transport of surface waters and net southeastern movement of subsurface waters in most areas over the next four days. In English: Pinellas County beachgoers probably won't have to worry about red tide for the moment — but you know what they say about the weather in Florida.
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This article appears in Jan 3-10, 2019.