Red tide bloom tracks north, killing 1,700 pounds of fish along St. Pete Beach

ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. - Anyone who went to one of Pinellas County's southern beaches last weekend may have felt a tickle in their throat, or maybe saw dead marine creatures along the shore. 

Crews picked up close to 1,700 pounds of dead fish that washed ashore on St. Pete Beach between Thursday and Monday, city officials said. 

"It’s actually a lot lighter than previous years," St. Pete Beach Mayor Alan Johnson said. "We’ve got a staff that does a really good job at cleaning the beach up, and they’ve been right on top of it this year," he said. 

Dead fish on St. Pete Beach during bloom of red tide algae

It's nowhere near the 614 tons collected during the red tide bloom in summer 2021, but it's enough to put local officials and fishermen on-guard.

The smell of red tide and dead fish had subsided Tuesday on Pass-a-Grille, but the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the reprieve could be short-lived.

Pinellas County’s environmental management team says samples taken Monday show high concentrations of red tide at Treasure Island and Pass-a-Grille. There are also low concentrations as far north as Sand Key, but an official with the county said the southern locations are the worst.

County officials say they’ve implemented phase one of their red tide response plan, which includes making sure they can ready equipment for cleanup operations if the impacts become widespread across the county.

FWC researcher Kate Hubbard said winds will continue to shift the bloom north Thursday. She said as a cold front arrives Friday, it will shift the winds, causing the currents to shift too. This, she said, should push the bloom further south.  

There is, however, the chance for a flare up Sunday morning.

"Then kind of on Monday, things are going to kind of relax again and go back to this circulation that we’ve been seeing," Hubbard said.

"Whether or not it’s a long-lived change, probably not given the time of year, but it may provide a little bit of relief over the weekend, and we’ll see those forecast tools update tomorrow and start to capture some of the front moving through," she said.

Hubbard said the movement and duration of the blooms depend on wind direction, currents, temperature and nutrients in the water, making them hard to predict.

She says it’s likely that Hurricane Ian helped move this red tide bloom closer to shore. 

FWC and the county will take water samples a few times a week, and will continue to monitor fish kills. FWC asks if you see dead fish on the beach or in the water, call its hotline at 1-800-636-0511.

The health department said red tide can cause mild respiratory symptoms like a cough or a runny nose. Anyone with existing breathing problems should avoid the beach. They also advise keeping your pets away from the water.