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Sarasota News Leader September 28, 2012 partment Environmental Health Administra- tor Tom Higginbotham. "While red tides can cause mild and short- lived respiratory irritation for most of the pop- ulation, those with asthma or chronic respi- ratory impairments really need to be mindful of beach conditions so they can avoid areas if impacts are being reported." A lack of quality satellite imagery available — a result of the extensive cloud cover the county has experienced for the past five to 10 days — has made it difficult "to get a good picture of what might be taking place in the Gulf [of Mexico]," the news release says. On Tuesday, Sept. 25, Mote deployed an auton- omous underwater vehicle, or AUV, equipped with a red tide detector just south of Venice to patrol from about 7 miles to 30 miles offshore. "These robots help increase the coverage area for red tide sampling and the amount of time sampling can take place. They also are able to send real-time information to scientists back at the lab," the news release says. "So far the robot, nicknamed Waldo, has shown no indication of K. brevis," Dr. Gary Kirkpatrick, the Mote senior scientist who developed the red tide detector on the robot, said in the news release. Mote's Beach Condition Reports are provided by specially trained and equipped volunteer Page 65 observers and updated twice daily (at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.) 365 days a year, the news release says. Each report contains information about beach conditions, including whether there is respiratory irritation among beachgoers and other indications of red tide. Reports are time- stamped so that the public knows when they last were updated. Beach Conditions Reports are displayed on- line at www.mote.org/beaches, where res- idents and visitors also may register to re- ceive reports about specific beaches in their email inboxes. For telephone updates, call 941-BEACHES and press 1 for Sarasota Coun- ty beaches. Current forecasts for east winds are expected to continue through the weekend, the news release adds, "but it's important to note that winds can change quickly," said Kate Nieren- berg, Mote senior biologist, who coordinates the beach conditions report. "That's why we update the Beach Conditions Report twice a day; in case something chang- es from morning to afternoon, the public can be equipped with that information when plan- ning their visits to the beach." For more information, contact the Sarasota County Call Center at 941-861-5000, or visit www.scgov.net. facebook.com/SarasotaNewsLeader