As you might expect – after the heavy rain Monday there are health advisories for all three of the major bayous and for Big Lagoon.
Combined with that are some drastic changes in salinities for some bodies of water. Bayou Chico logged a salinity of 2.1 ppt (basically freshwater) but upper Perdido Bay logged in with a salinity of 18.4 ppt. This is unusually high for this location but could be explained by the strong high tide generated by the lunar eclipse earlier this week.
Perdido Bay was the only area with lower dissolved oxygen values. The upper bay reported 4.7 mg/L and the lower bay logged 3.7 mg/L (which is pushing the hypoxic level).
High levels of Karenia brevis (red tide) were reported along shore and offshore of Bay and Gulf counties (Panama City and Port St. Joe). This red tide is forecasted to drift southeast away from land. The FWC fish kill database is still down and so we are not aware of any fish kills in that area at this time. Background levels of red tide continue to be offshore of Manatee, Sarasota, and Charlotte counties in SW Florida. Read more about the current red tide at:
http://ocgweb.marine.usf.edu/hab_tracking/HAB_trajectories.html
http://myfwc.com/research/redtide/statewide/
UWF did survey within the last two weeks for inshore lionfish – none were found. Only two reports of inshore lionfish this summer – recently one was verified near Sherman’s Cover NAS Pensacola and the other was captured early in the summer near Big Lagoon State Park. Surveys continue.
The FWC Fish Kill Database is still down.
There has been concern about cases of Vibrio infection. We have posted an article about this bacteria which you can find at https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/escambiaco/2015/07/10/what-you-need-to-know-about-vibrio-bacteria-in-gulf-waters/
Health Advisories – 4 reported this month
Fish Kills – none to report this month
Red Tide – none to report this month
Inshore Lionfish – none to report this month
Here are the numbers…
Oct 2, 2015
FDEP Data
Body of Water Temp (F) Salinity (ppt) DO (mg/L) ENT ECHD
Floridatown no data
Blackwater River no data
Bayou Texar 76 9.8 8.7 540 POOR
Bayou Chico 77 2.1 7.2 980 POOR
Bayou Grande 79 21.5 8.0 1150 POOR
Lower Perdido Bay 78 23.9 3.7 24
Upper Perdido Bay 80 18.4 4.7 390 (coliform)
Wayside Gulf Breeze 78 26.6 5.0 12
HIGH SCHOOL DATA – FOR SEPTEMBER
Washington High sampled Texar on Sep 1 and 15.
Water temperatures declined over those two weeks
Salinities were between 10 – 20 ppt
Dissolved oxygen read 3.8 mg/L at station #1 (12th avenue bridge) on Sep 1 but increased
Station #1 had high nitrogen levels all month (1400 – 1800 µg/L)
Stations #3, #4 (near Bayview Park) were 0 µg/L
There was a significant increase in phosphorus at #3 (Oyster Barn boat ramp) on Sep 1
There was a significant increase in chlorophyll a at #2 (Hyde Park road)
There was a significant decrease in water clarity in the bayou during September
West Florida sampled Upper Perdido Bay between Jan-Apr 2015 – no report so far this semester
Saw a significant decrease in total nitrogen in the spring
Saw a significant decrease in total phosphorus in the spring
Chlorophyll a was much higher in Jan than anytime during the spring
Escambia High – no report at this time
ENT – Enterococcus bacteria; an individual sample should not be more than 104 colonies / 100ml
Fecal Coliform – an individual sample should not be more than 800 colonies / 100ml of sample
DO – dissolved oxygen should be 3.0 mg/L or higher
ECHD – Escambia County Health Department (Enterococcus bacteria)
Good 0 – 35 colonies / 100ml
Moderate 36 – 104 colonies / 100ml
Poor +104 colonies / 100ml
FDEP – Florida Department of Environmental Protection
For more information on local water visit:
http://escambia.floridahealth.gov/programs-and-services/environmental-health/beaches/index.html
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