SCCF Marine Lab monitoring recent red tide bloom
By SCCF - | Dec 16, 2020
SCCF
Red tide sampling on Dec. 3.
Scientists at the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation’s Marine Lab have been tracking a red tide bloom that came to their attention on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, according to officials.
Satellite imagery provided by SCCF’s colleagues at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicated the development and transport of a red tide (Karenia brevis) algae bloom toward Sanibel on Thanksgiving.
The sequence of satellite images showed a large patch that had the optical characteristics of a dinoflagellate bloom. Since the first week of December, volunteers and staff have collected water samples from Bowman’s Beach, Tarpon Bay Road Beach, and Lighthouse Beach. At that time, the number of Karenia brevis, the single-cell dinoflagellate that causes red tide, were low, less than 100,000 cells per liter.
GCOOS tool forecasts high chance of respiratory irritation
By SCCF - | Dec 16, 2020
PHOTO PROVIDED
Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System s Red Tide Respiratory Forecast for today.
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation’s Marine Lab is continuing to monitor a red tide bloom to the south of Sanibel, officials reported today. Part of that monitoring includes providing counts of Karenia brevis, the dinoflagellate that blooms into red tide, from water samples collected at the beaches.
Some of the counts are uploaded to the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System’s Red Tide Respiratory Forecast tool that the public can visit online to plan their beach time along the coast.