Red tide is now being found further inside Tampa Bay.
A report issued Wednesday by state environmental officials shows low concentrations of the marine toxin at four locations in St. Petersburg and around the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
Those locations are at The Pier and Bayboro Harbor in downtown; Lassing Park, just south of downtown; and Maximo Park.
Low concentrations are also being reported at the South Skyway Fishing Pier, Anna Maria Island and in Sarasota Bay at New Pass Dock and the Ringling Causeway.
Fish kills and respiratory irritation believed to come from red tide were reported over the past week along the Sarasota County beaches.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is reporting over the past week, the red tide organism Karenia brevis was detected in 65 samples collected from the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of Florida. Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were observed in eight samples: one from Hillsborough County, six from Sarasota County, and one offshore of Lee County.
Satellite imagery from this week reveals a 75-mile long patch of elevated chlorophyll along Florida’s Southwest Coast, located from 5 to 10 miles offshore of Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties, and extending about 35 miles across at its widest point. The recent imagery suggests that chlorophyll patches have been pushed southward because of northerly wind and ocean circulation.
