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Mote Marine Laboratory sees success in red tide mitigation deployment

SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) — A red tide bloom has been impacting parts of Sarasota County, causing fish kills along some beaches. It's been bothersome to some beachgoers, but for the scientists at Mote Marine Laboratory, the bloom has given them an opportunity to bring their red tide mitigation tools from the lab out into the real world. St. Petersburg family left without AC for months, despite warranty 'Today is an important moment in the ongoing advancement of the Florida Red Tide Mitigation and Technology Development Initiative,' said Dr. Michael P. Crosby, Mote Marine Laboratory President & CEO. 'This is the first time these products and technologies have been deployed during an active Florida red tide bloom. We are transitioning from controlled laboratory studies and field testing of real-world red tide bloom applications to the next critical phase of this initiative, which focuses on engineering large-scale deployment technologies required to safely and effectively mitigate the impacts of harmful algal blooms in our coastal waters.' The two red tide-fighting products, which recently received regulatory approvals, were deployed in Venice canals that were being impacted by the bloom. The field testing brought new variables into play such as changing tides which the lab testing could not replicate. Sampling before and after the treatments showed a 70% kill rate of the karenia brevis organism. 'A 70% kill rate of the karenia brevis, that is a win for us,' said Kevin Claridge, Mote VP for Sponsored Research & Coastal Policy Programs. 'I think that is a pretty good suppression of. You are not going to ever completely knock it out of the water column, and we don't want to eliminate it from the natural environment, but you wanna knock it back where it is causing the environmental and ecological impacts.' About a dozen other mitigation products remain in the testing phase as they await the regulatory approvals needed for field deployment. 'We are excited about the next steps, more products, better efficacy, keep improving the technology, a great partnership with the state, appreciate all the regulatory approvals, a lot of steps along the way, a lot of questions, a lot of new ground plowed,' Claridge said. 'It really was a village that made this happen.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.