ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — For anyone planning on going to the beach this coming weekend, there are a couple of locations to avoid after the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission released a recent red tide report.
Over the past week, the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, was detected in 78 samples collected from Florida's Gulf Coast, FWC explains. Bloom concentrations were found in 10 samples, with locally one being offshore of Pasco County, one in Pinellas County and two in Manatee County.
High concentrations were found in and offshore Pinellas County with very low to medium concentrations in Manatee County and background to low concentrations in Sarasota County.
According to FWC, respiratory irritations suspected to be connected to red tide were reported in Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota counties.
The next status report will be issued on Wednesday, April 12.
But even with this in mind, there are still some local beaches that are safe to spend the weekend at.
Looking at a respiratory forecast map from the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System, beaches in Clearwater are considered to have a "very low" risk of irritation linked to red tide. Going along the coastline, some areas stemming from Indian Rocks Beach to Madeira Beach are considered to have a "very low" to "moderate" risk of irritation.
Treasure Island Beach is labeled as "high" risk of irritation with beaches surrounding considered a "moderate" risk.
To take a look at the map of irritation risk levels, click here.