‘Patchy’ red tide causes fish kills

Posted on October 27, 2021

A “patchy bloom” of red tide is believed to be responsible for recent reports of dead fish scattered offshore of Keaton Beach and Steinhatchee, however most of the samples taken from Taylor County waters last week indicate the red tide organism Karenia brevis (K-bevis) was either “not present” or at “low” levels.

There have been a number of fish kills reported — mostly baitfish, pinfish, grunts, squirrelfish and catfish — over the past month from around the mouth of the Steinhatchee River north to Keaton Beach and further offshore.

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