New Mote app analyzes microscopic red tide data

SARASOTA — The future of red tide data collection is here — in cellphone application form.

Scientists from Mote Marine Laboratory, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System have teamed up to create a NASA-funded cellphone microscope app, the “HABscope,” that can, within minutes, analyze the concentration of cells of the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, in any given water sample extracted from the shore.

Volunteers place drops of the water sample from a pipette onto a microscope slide and take a video of the sample. Once they file the video of the sample, the app calculates the cells per liter, which in turn determines the level of red tide in the water. The app has an algorithm that can identify Karenia brevis based on its swimming pattern.