SARASOTA COUNTY – Red tide is found off several Sarasota County beaches. So what does that mean for those with weekend beach plans?
Out of an abundance of caution, the Health Department in Sarasota County has issued a red tide advisory.
“Due to increased cell counts and respiratory irritation being felt locally,” said Public Information Officer for the Sarasota County Department of Health, Steve Huard.
The concentrations of red tide in Sarasota County are very low but there are some things we should be aware of
“Respiratory issues, so if you feel that tickle in the back or your throat and a little cough associated with that, for some people that is very tolerable, with some people with respiratory issues, if you have asthma, or something along those lines, it could feel a lot more severe,” said Huard.
Once you get away from the area, these symptoms generally go away. However, if you do head out to the beach Huard suggests checking weather reports first and not just for rain…
“You can figure out if you’ve got a prevailing offshore wind, which would help to push that red tide offshore and keep everybody breathing easily,” said Huard.
This leaves many wondering if the bloom has anything to do with the Piney Point spill.
“It has nothing at all to do with Piney Point, we’ve had a red tide here in south West Florida since December, so it has been here it has just been centered more around Charlotte and Lee Counties,” said Director of The Red Tide institute at Mote, Dr. Cynthia Heil.
Mote’s Director of The Red Tide Institute says it’s hard to predict what will come in the next couple of months
“So far it has nor resemblance to the 2018 bloom, that was so horrendously bad so the short answer is no, we can’t predict what it is going to do so far in advance but at the moment it resembles what we call a normal bloom year, not 2018 at all,” said Dr. Heil.
For more information on Red Tide you can FWC’s Red Tide status website here.
