Health alerts were issued this week for the Lee County islands of Sanibel and Captiva. Notices were also issued for Gasparilla Island State Park.
Latest Red Tide news reports…
Red tide again staining Lee County waters, Fort Myers News-Press, 1/31/2023

Lee County Health Department issues red tide alert for Sanibel, Captiva, The Island Reporter, 1/27/2023
No red tide is reported along Pinellas beaches and Sarasota Bay for first time in months, WUSF Public Media, 1/25/2023
Editor’s Note: If you follow our links to newspaper reports, understand access to some may be limited without a subscription.
Red Tide Florida Report
Weekly Red Tide Map: Dots on the map below show tested concentrations of red tide blooms in the Gulf of Mexico and inland waters, released on 2/1/2023 by Florida Fish and Wildlife.

Red Tide Report Details
Wednesday, Feb. 1 — The red tide organism, Karenia brevis, was detected in 54 samples collected from and offshore of Southwest Florida over the past week.
Bloom concentrations (>100,000 cells/liter) were present in 12 samples: one in Sarasota County, 10 in Lee County, and one in Monroe County.
- In Southwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was observed at very low concentrations in Pinellas County, background to low concentrations in Manatee County, background to medium concentrations in Sarasota County, low concentrations in Charlotte County, very low to high concentrations in Lee County, very low concentrations offshore of Collier County, and background to high concentrations in and offshore of Monroe County.
- In Northwest Florida over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.
- Along the Florida East Coast over the past week, K. brevis was not observed.
Fish kills
Reports of fish kills suspected to be related to red tide were received in Southwest Florida from Sarasota County over the past week. For details, visit: https://myfwc.com/research/saltwater/health/fish-kills-hotline/ and https://visitbeaches.org/.
Respiratory Irritation due to red tide
Respiratory irritation suspected to be related to red tide was reported via the Beach Conditions Reporting System over the past week in Southwest Florida in Manatee County (Coquina Beach and Manatee Beach) and Sarasota County (Lido Key Beach, Manasota Key Beach, Nokomis Beach, Siesta Key Beach, Venice Beach, Venice North Jetty Beach).
For recent and current information at individual beaches, please visit https://visitbeaches.org/ and for forecasts that use FWC and partner data, please visit https://habforecast.gcoos.org/.
Red tides form many miles offshore, sometimes causing no impact to humans. However, when red tides travel inshore on wind and water currents, they can cause respiratory irritation among beachgoers, especially those who have underlying lung diseases, such as asthma or COPD.
Red tide movement forecast
Forecasts by the USF-FWC Collaboration for Prediction of Red Tides for Pinellas County to northern Monroe County predict variable movement of surface and subsurface waters with minimal net transport in most areas through Sunday, Feb. 5.
Beach Conditions
Daily Beach Condition reports reflect observations on beaches throughout the state.
Read the full FWC Red Tide report online
More from Florida Rambler: Florida Blue-Green Algae updates
Additional Resources
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Florida Department of Health
- Protecting Florida Together
- Florida Poison Control Information Center
Bob Rountree is a retired journalist, beach bum, angler and camper who has explored Florida for decades. No adventure is complete without finding a scenic paddle trail or unpaved road to nowhere. Bob co-founded FloridaRambler.com with fellow journalist Bonnie Gross 11 years ago.
Craig
Wednesday 25th of January 2023
Red Tide is MUCH worse than it's made out to be - it's played down because Billions of dollars are at stake. Fixing it? No way - Mosaic funds Mote. The Gov. has made it clear (Scott and DeSantis) that environmentalism is a "woke" fantasy,.
People are getting very sick. Talk to Doctors. Some are moving away (to the east coast).
This is not just an irritant - it's a poison (duh, dead fish and manatees/dolphins). It is likely shortening human lives - those with other respiratory problems.
It's been studied - but, of course, not by the State. Why would they want to know the truth? You can't dump billions of gallons of sewage and fertilizer into shallow warm water without problems!
Kim Wroblewski
Tuesday 2nd of November 2021
The red tide can bother you at sometimes. But whiat our family does is just go down the beach a couple miles and you really can’t notice it at all. Sometimes it’ll bother you worse than others. But don’t give up hope our Florida weather is beautiful and so are the beaches so just enjoy it the best you can and except the red tide Kim Wroblewski
Susan
Saturday 14th of August 2021
Thank you for publishing information about red tide. This has been going on for several weeks not just this last week. I live near the beach in Sarasota county. I feel so bad for tourists who come down with no idea that this is going on. It is not publicized or reported much. The signs alerting people are very inconspicuous. Many lodging properties and hotels do not tell their guests. We’ve also had closures due to bacteria in the water. It is bad enough that our state government is not proactive in solving this problem for all of us, but at least tell people what’s going on for safety reasons. Florida rambler is awesome. Thank you for all your publications! Susan