The phenomenon known as red tide has been a topic of great interest in that there is concern that the scale and complexity of this natural phenomenon are expanding. It is known that the benthic dinoflagellate, Gambierdiscus toxicus, produces a variety of polyether toxins that contaminate seafood and result in human illness. Maitotoxin (MTX) is one of the toxins that have been implicated in ciguatera seafood poisoning. There is a need for the development of a much broader understanding of the nature of the poisoning toxins. MTX cogeners can be difficult to isolate due to its size and chemical nature. A major goal is to obtain a purified standard of a Caribbean MTX so that more efficient assays can be developed to test seafood for the presence of toxins and thus avoid human harm. The primary goal of this project is to obtain large amounts of pure maitotoxin. The procedure described is also useful as a starting point for the purification of other toxins.