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Red tide levels rise in Southwest Florida

Posted at 7:00 AM, Oct 14, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-14 07:00:06-04

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA -- If you have weekend beach plans, you may want to have a back up plan.  A new report by Florida Fish and Wildlife is showing red tide growing along southwest Florida's coast.

New samples this week show that while southern Collier County is seeing the worst of it in our area, other counties aren't out of the clear. 

Some medium concentrations of red tide have been detected in Charlotte County, and some low concentrations were found in Lee County. 

Red tide has plagued Florida's western coast off and on for years. The toxic algae is known to cause respiratory problems for people and fish kills along the coast.  Several fish kills have recently been reported as far south as Barefoot Beach in North Naples.

FWC says they could use your help tracking the toxic algae.  If you see a fish kill, you are asked to report it to the FWC Fish Kill Hotline at 800-636-0511, or submit an online report.

FWC provides the latest updates on their red tide website.