Sarasota County March 14 Red Tide update
Red tide is present at Sarasota County beaches. Each morning, Sarasota County Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources staff evaluate county public beaches and access points to determine if red tide impacts and marine debris wash-up meet the beach cleaning policy threshold. If accumulated debris meets the threshold, mechanical or manual (hand picking, rakes) are deployed.
As of March 14, this morning’s monitoring showed improvements throughout Sarasota County, with Lido Key experiencing the most impacts. See this link for images of March 14 beach conditions.
As part of regular beach maintenance operations, Sarasota County Parks Recreation and Natural Resources staff perform weekly beach raking at Siesta and Lido beaches throughout the year. On Monday, March 13, routine mechanical beach raking occurred on Siesta Beach and again on Tuesday, March 14. Due to equipment issues, today's regular raking operations were shifted from Lido Key to Siesta Beach. Raking on Lido Key is planned for tomorrow, Wednesday, March 15, and the regular beach maintenance schedule is set to resume Thursday, March 16.
Note: This mechanical beach raking is regular beach operations and maintenance. The special beach cleaning policy threshold has not been met, and red tide-related beach cleaning has not begun.
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Sarasota County is home to more than 50,000 acres of natural areas to explore. You are reminded to pack-in-and-pack-out when visiting county beaches, parks, trails and natural areas.
