Red Tide Cleanup Forces Closure Of Portion of Dunedin Beach

DUNEDIN, FLA – A small portion of Dunedin Causeway beach will be closed to the public on Thursday as county officials work clean up the red tide that has been affecting portions of Pinellas County recently.

The beach immediately southwest of the Dunedin Causeway bridge will be blocked off while crews conduct the Red Tide clean-up, the county said in a news release Thursday. A dumpster will be located in that area throughout the course of the day.

A county spokesman said Thursday that the the dumpsters will remain in place until the cleanup is complete but that because only a small portion of the beach is being impacted by the cleanup, beach-goers should not notice too much of a disruption.

The Causeway will remain open to vehicle and pedestrian traffic, and the beaches and vessel launch areas further west will not be impacted, officials said.

Pinellas County will also have small boats retrieving dead fish in Dunedin and around Clearwater Harbor today. Crews from the county's contractor and other local municipalities will also be cleaning and raking the beaches as needed.

Pinellas County's latest water sample testing shows low to moderate concentrations of K brevis between the county's southernmost beaches and Honeymoon Island. The University of South Florida predicts that the blooms will continue moving north over the next four days. Local beach conditions can be found here.

Pinellas County officials released the Red Tide information on Wednesday for area beaches where some dead fish were reported at each site.

• Honeymoon Island: Medium levels of red tide conditions reported
• Clearwater Beach: Medium levels of red tide conditions reported
• Sand Key: High levels of red tide conditions reported
• Belleair Beach: High levels of red tide conditions reported