Dr. Charles Manire, director of rehabilitation, & Dr. Justin Perrault, director of research, contributed to this blog.
In our effort to bring up-to-date information to our stakeholders and our community, we have formulated updated information about red tide and its impact in Palm Beach County as of 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 4.
Red tide bloom status – Red tide now reported in multiple Florida east-coast counties:
FWC water testing has revealed the presence of Karenia brevis in one of four samples taken from Miami-Dade County. FWC found moderate levels at Haulover Inlet. Broward County is awaiting results of water samples from their area.
In Palm Beach County, officials have closed the three remaining beaches (Phil Foster Park, Peanut Island and Ocean Ridge Hammock). As of 10/4/2018, all County-run beaches are now closed.
Fish kill update:
We have not seen an abundance of dead fish on our local beaches today (10/4/2018). There are no reports yet from FWC regarding testing on dead fish found on the beaches from earlier in the week.
Daily water quality testing:
Today’s water testing in our sea water system at noon revealed no K. brevis (red tide) cells.
Patient update:
No red tide effects have been noted in current hospital patients. One juvenile green turtle was stranded dead in the Town of Gulf Stream with no obvious signs of disease or external trauma.
All rehab facilities have received a request from FWC to either save dead sea turtles for them to necropsy or to necropsy them and send tissues to the Florida Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI), a branch of FWC in St. Petersburg, FL, for testing.
Hours of operations:
Loggerhead Marinelife Center, which operates out of Loggerhead Park, is open from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. daily. Admission and parking are always free. For updates, please continue to check our blog and social media channels.
The Juno Beach Pier reopened on Wednesday, October 3 and is open 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset daily.
For more information about the Juno Beach Pier please visit: www.facebook.com/junobeachpier
We do not yet know when Palm Beach County will reopen County-run beaches.
Please help us expand our blood research and improve our patient outcomes for sea turtles affected by red tide:
In an effort to better respond to this and future red tide occurrences, LMC has launched our red tide rapid response blood research and detoxification lab. Our Research Laboratory has applied to multiple state and local organizations in an effort to request emergency funding for the equipment, medications and supplies required to monitor brevetoxin concentrations in sea turtles in a real-time, clinically significant manner.
This lab equipment and medication will allow our scientists and medical staff to serve as a regional collaboration hub, providing rapid testing to identify the presence of the red tide toxins to multiple local rehabilitation facilities, so they can develop the most effective treatment plans for affected sea turtles.
Loggerhead Marinelife Center’s Go Fund Me Page can be found at: www.gofundme.com/lmc-red-tide-emergency-fund