Sarasota County red tide update sees conditions improving

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - The Sarasota County government has issued an update on red tide conditions in the area after many reported bad conditions and fish kills.

Lido Beach was reported to be particularly hard hit with dead fish but marine debris levels are still not at a threshold that would trigger debris cleaning. Red tide is still present at Sarasota County beaches. Each morning, Sarasota County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources staff evaluate county public beaches and access points to determine if red tide impacts and marine debris wash-up meet the beach cleaning policy threshold. If accumulated debris meets the threshold, mechanical or manual methods are deployed.

As of March 17, this morning’s monitoring showed improvements throughout Sarasota County with minimal impacts on most beaches.

As part of regular beach maintenance operations, Sarasota County Parks Recreation and Natural Resources staff perform weekly beach raking at Siesta and Lido beaches throughout the year. Siesta Key, Siesta Beach and Turtle Beach were rake today, March 17. Siesta is raked Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and Lido is raked Tuesdays and Thursdays as part the regular beach maintenance schedule.

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