Click map image to visit the Fish & Wildlife Red Tide Current Status page.
The Red Tide that has been hanging around the southwest coast of Florida this winter has finally gone away, leaving clear waters behind and plenty of live fish to enjoy them. See all those green bubbles on the map above? Those indicate testing sites where the water tested clear of red tide. The white bubbles mean that the concentration of red tide organisms (naturally present in the water) is so small that there are no effects.
Below is a photo from Manasota Key that shows the nearly decomposed remains of dead mullet that washed ashore weeks ago. Under the sun and with the work of millions of crabs and microorganisms the fish carcasses will be gone in no time.
These dried mullet carcasses on the upper beach are all that’s left of the winter’s red tide fish kill. These are important food for ghost crabs and other denizens of the upper beach.
Now that the red tide is gone, folks can get back to fishing the clear waters of Manasota Key.
To stay up-to-date on the status of red tide in southwest Florida, visit the Fish & Wildlife website with the red tide current status report.
