North Hutchinson Island Beaches Closed Due To Red Tide Complications

North Hutchinson Island Beaches Closed Due To Red Tide Complications

NORTH HUTCHINSON ISLAND – St. Lucie County beaches on North Hutchison Island, including the Fort Pierce Inlet State Park and Avalon Beach, are closed due to complications from red tide.  St. Lucie County Ocean Rescue Lifeguards will continue to monitor conditions and evaluate when the beaches will reopen.

St. Lucie County’s Beach Conditions Hotline (772-462-1421) provides daily updates by 11 a.m.

St. Lucie County continues to collect water samples twice a week from eight different locations on Hutchinson Island, sending them to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) for testing. Results have shown low to moderate concentrations of red tide. The results of statewide testing can be found at https://myfwc.com/redtidestatus.

If residents/visitors suffer from respiratory issues or allegories – it is advised that they avoid the beaches.

St. Lucie County encourages residents and visitors to use caution when on the beach or in waters with high concentrations of red tide. Protect your family and pets by staying away from affected areas until the blooms move further offshore or they go away. Red tide is a naturally occurring algae that has been documented along Florida’s Gulf Coast since the 1840s and occurs nearly every year. Because the blooms are patchy, other local beaches may be okay to visit.

With 21 miles of coastline, St. Lucie County features more than a dozen public beach accesses with a variety of amenities from full-scale parks with pavilions, paved parking, restrooms and showers to primitive sandy dune crossovers. For a list of all St. Lucie County parks, preserves and beach accesses, including amenities visit the interactive map athttps://gis.stlucieco.gov/parkspreserves.

Important Phone Numbers:

St. Lucie Beach Hotline: 772-462-1421

Red Tide Status Reports: https://myfwc.com/redtidestatus

Red Tide Health Concerns: 1-800-222-1222 (Florida Poison Control Center)

Report Fish Kills: 1-800-636-0511 (FWC)

Shellfish Harvesting Areas:https://shellfish.floridaaquaculture.com/seas/seas_statusmap.htm