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Red Tide
On 2/12/25, the FWC reported that the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, was detected in 65 samples collected from Florida's Gulf Coast over the past week. In Southwest Florida, K. brevis was observed at background concentrations in Pinellas County, background to low concentrations in Manatee County, background to medium concentrations in both Sarasota and Charlotte counties, background to high concentrations in Lee County, and very low to medium concentrations in Collier County.
In the past week, the CROW wildlife hospital on Sanibel admitted 1 patient with suspected red tide/toxicosis: 1 adult laughing gull. Multiple fish kill events with counts of 100- 1,000+ have been reported over the past week on Sanibel and Captiva islands and within Lee County, likely due to the presence of Karenia brevis, along with deceased birds and coastal wildlife being found on beaches. While initial fish kills from this bloom largely included mullet, catfish, pufferfish and crustaceans, larger fish species including common snook, Atlantic spadefish, juvenile tarpon and bonnethead sharks have been found deceased in recent days and weeks.
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