State wildlife officials confirmed this week that bloom-level concentrations of red tide have formed in parts of Northwest Florida, bringing reports of dead fish along the coast.
Over the past seven days, water samples collected across the Florida Panhandle detected the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, 20 times. Four of those samples—taken in Bay and Gulf counties—reached bloom concentrations, which scientists define as having more than 100,000 cells per liter of water. Several suspected red tide-related fish kills were reported to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Fish Kill Hotline and local partners in those same two counties.
Despite the elevated levels in the water, state officials noted that no red tide-related respiratory irritation was reported anywhere in Florida over the past week…