Red Tide is still floating out there and could return. But when?

The fish kills have receded, but toxic algal blooms are still floating off the Pinellas shore.

The fish kills and murky air are no longer problems for the Pinellas coastline, but that doesn’t mean Red Tide is gone.

The patchy blooms are still floating miles off the county’s western coastline. They don’t currently pose a threat to Pinellas County, but experts say that could change if the currents and winds bring it back to shore.

They just don’t know if that could happen now — or in the fall.

“I was actually quite shocked at how close the Red Tide is,” said Pinellas County Public Works Director Kelli Hammer Levy during a Wednesday meeting with the mayors of Pinellas’ beach cities. “It’s actually sitting right off of our coast right now, so it’s still there.”