Texas -

Current Status

December 18, 2009

This week began with no reports of red tide-related fish kills. By Thursday, dead mullet had begun to be seen at locations around Corpus Christi Bay, including the Texas State Aquarium, Ropes Park and Cole Park. High cell concentrations were found in the water near the Aquarium.

South Padre Island has seen a decline in cell counts recently. No cells were seen in the water samples collected Wednesday from the Queen Isabella causeway at Port Isabel or the gulf beach at the UT-Pan American Coastal Studies Lab. Low cell concentrations were found inside Brazos-Santiago Pass.

December 15, 2009

Red tide continues to kill fish in Corpus Christi Bay. Birds were seen feeding today in front of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and dead mullet were found near the Texas State Aquarium. Low concentrations of red tide cells were found over the weekend at the Port Aransas jetties by TAMU’s Imaging Flow CytoBot.

UT-Pan American and Texas Sea Grant staff have been conducting daily red tide monitoring around the South Padre Island area. The past four days’ efforts have found consistent low cell counts at their three sampling sites: the Queen Isabella Causeway at Port Isabel, inside Brazos-Santiago Pass, and the gulf beach in front of the UT-Pan American Coastal Studies Lab.

No aerosol effects have been reported from anywhere along the Texas coast.

December 11, 2009

Cell counts in the bays have once again begun to rise after being on the decline in recent weeks. The Texas Department of State Health Services continues to monitor oyster beds in the wake of the red tide. On Thursday, December 10, DSHS staff collected samples from the following locations around Corpus Christi Bay: Indian Point Pier, Ingleside Cove, La Quinta Channel, Island Mooring Channel, Point of Mustang, Shamrock Cove, the mouth of Oso Bay and the Corpus Christi marina. Visible bloom was found along the entire length of Ocean Drive. Each sampling location had higher cell counts than were found on the previous sampling date, with the highest concentrations found in the Corpus Christi Marina.

Cell counts also increased around South Padre Island, with low levels found today inside Brazos-Santiago Pass and moderate levels at the Queen Isabella causeway. No cells were found on the gulf beach at Isla Blanca Park.

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