Red tide's impact on Sarasota and Manatee County beaches is up to the wind this weekend
An ongoing red tide that started to affect Sarasota and Manatee County beaches last week continues to linger in local waters, but beachgoers may see mixed conditions depending on their beach of choice and which way the wind blows this weekend.
Red tide has been blooming offshore of communities impacted by Hurricane Milton for weeks, but until recently favorable winds have mostly kept its impacts away from local beaches.
Satellite imagery shows that most of the red tide bloom has drifted south away from the area, but also closer to shore in parts of southern Sarasota County. Water samples found either low or medium levels of the red tide organism, Karenia Brevis, at several Sarasota and Manatee County shorelines.
"It really depends on where you are and on which way the wind is blowing," Sarasota Bay Estuary Program Director Dave Tomasko said. "It looks like it is worse down from Venice down to the Boca Grande area."
Satellite imagery: National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science HAB tracker
Water sample results: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Weather forecast: NWS Tampa
Visitors can reference government resources to plan around red tide
Tomasko recommends that beachgoers check official state and federal websites, rather than seek advice on social media forums, to plan trips to local beaches.
"It's like that commercial with Al Roker, I think it's a car ad," Tomasko said, referring to a Tik Tok video of the weather forecaster. "He's telling all his followers it's going to be a horrible day on the beach, then he goes to the beach and he is the only one there and he is doing it on purpose.
"I don't think anyone would do it on purpose, but you can't just use social media as your only source to know whether or not its safe to go to the beach," he said. "Some people might say, 'Oh my god I was there and it was bad,' or someone might say, 'It's nothing,' and maybe both of them are right or both of them are wrong."
He often references satellite imagery published by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, recent water sample results published by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and checks the wind direction on weather forecasting websites to see if the wind is blowing red tide toward shore.
"The state of Florida and the federal government spend a lot of money to produce these tools to help people figure out what to do," Tomasko said. "So use those tools, and find out for yourself."
"When I go to the beach I look at multiple sources," he said. "I look at the satellite imagery, I look at the FWC results and then I look at the wind forecast. If there are low values and wind blowing out of the east, boom, I am going to the beach. If I see higher values and winds blowing out of the west, then I expect to see red tide."
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Red tide: Bloom has shifted south recently along Sarasota, Manatee
