Red tide remains absent from the waters in Tampa Bay, according to the mid-week update Wednesday from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
It appears red tide blooms are no longer moving north and may be actually receding from northwest Florida, as only background to low concentrations were recorded in Citrus and Hernando counties with no fish kills or respiratory irritations reported there.
However, the toxic blooms are persisting off of Florida's Gulf Coast along Pasco, Pinellas, Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte and Lee counties.
Over the past week, fish kills and cases of respiratory irritation have been reported in all the counties experiencing blooms, except for Pasco.
High concentrations of the red tide organism Karenia brevis have been detected near St. Joseph Sound, Clearwater Beach, Indian Rocks Beach, Redington Beach, Madeira Beach, Longboat Key, and in Sarasota Bay by New Pass.
