February 3, 2023

On 2/2/23 Lake Okeechobee was at 15.99 feet, decreasing by 0.12 feet in the past week. The weekly average flow at S-79 was 1,974 cfs (cubic feet per second) and flow from the Lake at S-77 was an average of 1,495 cfs. The 14-day average flow at S-79 was 1,946 cfs and has been in the optimum flow envelope (750 - 2,100 cfs) for 35 days.

Red Tide

Satellite imagery over the past week has detected medium to high chlorophyll off the coast of Southwest Florida near Sanibel Island.

On 2/1/23, the FWC reported that over the past week the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, was detected in 54 samples collected from and offshore of Southwest Florida over the past week. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were present in 12 samples: one in Sarasota County, 10 in Lee County, and one in Monroe County.

In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at very low concentrations in Pinellas County, background to low concentrations in Manatee County, background to medium concentrations in Sarasota County, low concentrations in Charlotte County, very low to high concentrations in Lee County, very low concentrations offshore of Collier County, and background to high concentrations in and offshore of Monroe County.

SCCF observed K. brevis counts were high at Lighthouse Beach Park and medium at the Causeway and at the mouth of Tarpon Bay on 1/30/23.

The Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) (currently displaced off island) received 3 birds with toxicosis symptoms (from red tide or blue-green algae) from 1/24/23 - 1/30/23.

Beach Conditions

On 2/1/23 a Sanibel resident reported 5 - 10 dead fish in Kesson Bayou. Species were identified as possibly being mullet, 10 - 12 inches long.

On 2/1/23 the City of Sanibel reported a fish kill between Algiers and Tarpon Bay Rd. Dead fish were every few feet to 50 feet and the reported species were mullet, 6 - 10 inches long. Mild sporadic respiratory irritation was reported, and a sick cormorant was found and taken to Blue Coral Vet.

Blue-Green Algae

On 1/30/23 sampling for cyanobacteria by the Lee County Environmental Lab reported the

presence of Aphanizomenon and Microcystis upstream of the Franklin Locks as some wind-driven scum along the lock.

On 2/2/23, satellite imagery from Lake Okeechobee showed scattered low bloom potential on the lake.