Experts warn of potential red tide heading toward Southwest Florida

A potential red tide bloom exploded in size and intensity off Florida’s coast, from Clearwater to Venice, and it could impact Southwest Florida.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration first noticed the bloom before Hurricane Milton, but the organization said it’s only gotten worse.

WINK News reporter Maddie Herron spoke with experts to discover what impacts could be seen in Southwest Florida.

In Fort Myers Beach, instead of fresh saltwater air, you’re hit with a peppery sting in your nose, eyes and mouth, the sand scattered with smelly, dead fish.

Red tide doesn’t offer the beach day most people picture, but experts say it could once again be coming our way.

Many Floridians stay glued to the weather forecast during hurricane season, but a new concern is on the radar.

Red tide is a naturally occurring bloom of organisms that annually builds up on Florida’s west coast.

One Fort Myers Beach resident, Philip Rainford, said, “Everyone that is affected by it, which is most people, you can hear them coughing a little bit. And then if you see a lot of dead fish lying around, that’s another symptom of it. And the smell is something else…”

The smell of dead fish is a stench many Fort Myers Beach residents know well but don’t look forward to.

Beach attendee Renee Keidl told WINK, “There’s nothing you can really do besides not come or put a mask on.”

“If you want to be on the beach, you’re gonna have to put up with it… If not, don’t go to the beach,” said beach visitor Greg Horbinski.

It’s not in our area yet, but experts say the latest NOAA satellite shows a massive bloom brewing just off the coast of Hillsborough County.

Mike Parsons, a professor of Marine Science at the Florida Gulf Coast University, said, “We know there’s a bloom out there. We’re not 100% sure that it contains red tide.”

The red on the radar doesn’t mean red tide; it indicates a high chlorophyll level.

“We know that red tide is not here right now. We know it’s up around Saint Pete, and some of the samples had high bloom levels of red tide. We do know the satellites picking up a big bloom of something…To be most cautious, we would assume that it contains red tide. So we should prepare for red tide,” Parsons explained.

Based on where models are now, Parsons estimates the bloom could hit our area in anywhere from four days to a week.

Of course, whether this bloom is really red tide will depend on more testing from the FWC.

We’re expecting to see the results later this week.