Red Tide is back in several Tampa Bay area coastal counties. But it’s outside of the typical season.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports low to medium concentrations of red tide in Pinellas and Manatee County and high concentrations in Sarasota County. Red tide is when there is a higher-than-normal concentration of a particular kind of algae. Red Tide can kill marine life and be harmful to humans.
Matthew Garrett, Associate Researcher at Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, says it’s not typical red tide season in Florida.
“We typically see it usually in the later months, in the fall and into the winter, so September into kind of December is the main time we typically see them, so having it this time of year, although, again, is not totally unheard of, it’s typically less common.” he tells WMNF News.
As for when we should expect it to disappear- it’s currently unknown.
“We’re really good at knowing where it is now, and trying to get better at knowing where it’s going to be, but the initiation and the termination of these bloom events has become, is still enigmatic so they’re kind of hard to predict and tell.”
