Check Tampa Bay Area Beach Conditions Before You Go

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — With sunshine, blue skies and highs in the low 90s expected over the next few days, chances are pretty strong more than a few people have plans to visit beaches in the Tampa Bay area during Memorial Day weekend. Checking on conditions at local beaches before hitting the road, however, is a good idea though. While red tide levels have waned significantly in recent weeks, this concern hasn’t gone away entirely.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, a red tide bloom that has plagued the region’s waters for months “persists at background to very low concentrations.” Water samples tested in Pinellas County, for example, showed background to very low concentrations. Similar results were found in Manatee and Sarasota county waters. Fish kills and respiratory irritations often associated with red tide have not been reported within the region over the past week.

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Red tide, also known as Karenia brevis, is a naturally occurring organism found in Gulf of Mexico waters. When it accumulates in large amounts, it can kill fish and cause respiratory problems for people and animals. Toxins in red tide can “enter the air and cause respiratory irritation among beachgoers, such as coughing, sneezing or a scratchy throat,” according to Sarasota’s Mote Marine Laboratory. Mote scientists conduct year-round monitoring of Bay area waters.

Mote publishes information collected from area beaches on the VisitBeaches.org website. The site provides a snapshot of conditions at beaches from Clearwater south to Marco Island. The online tool is updated regularly with reports on any flags, water color, red tide, air temperature, fish kills and other things beachgoers need to know about.

While the tool doesn’t cover every beach along Florida’s west coast, it provides a sampling of them. The reports are subjective, Mote notes on the website, but are designed specifically “to indicate to the beachgoer which beach may be more preferable to visit at a particular time.” Updates are generally provided twice daily.

To check out Mote’s reporting system, visit www.VisitBeaches.org online.

The Florida Department of Health also runs the Healthy Beaches Program to keep track of water conditions throughout the state. That program focuses on reporting the results of water quality tests performed on a regular basis at beaches across the state. The results are published regularly on the FDOH website based on individual county testing and reporting programs.

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