Karenia brevis, the Gulf of Mexico red tide organism, has been detected off the west coast of Florida. SECOORA partners Friday, August 1, released gliders to monitor and map the bloom. University of South Florida’s (USF) glider Bass is swimming along the West Florida Shelf, collecting and sending data back and was retrieved August 16, 2014. Bass was redeployed on September 8 starting at the western edge of the bloom on the surface and progressing WSW offshore out of the bloom area.

Above: USF Bass Gilder’s path tracked on SECOORA’s Interactive Regional Map

According to Florida Fish and Wildlife, satellite images from the Optical Oceanography Laboratory at the University of South Florida (USF) show a surface bloom extending between Dixie and Pinellas counties, approximately 15 miles offshore between Dixie and Pasco counties and 5 miles offshore in southern Pasco and northern Pinellas counties.

Re-posted from SECOORA.org – click here for original post.