Sargasso seaweed is a yellow-brown type of seaweed that occurs in the sea area it is named after. Surrounded by four major ocean currents, the Sargasso Sea lies north of Cuba and Bermuda. It covers an area of over 4 million km², larger than India. The seaweed that occurs here is nutritious. National Geographic writes that nowhere else is there as much biodiversity as in the Sargasso Sea. Among other things, the eel is hatched here, before eventually swimming to Europe and North America. For time immemorial, seaweed has grown in the Sargasso Sea. National Geographic writes that it has existed for 30 million years. It was first discovered by Christopher Columbus in the 15th century. Scrape the whole pictureBaie Olive in Saint Francois on the French island of Guadeloupe is now full of Saragossa seaweed. Scratch the picture to see what Olive Bay looks like when it is not full of seaweed.Olivier Morin/AFP Record amount of seaweed Researchers announced in March that they had discovered a belt of more than 13 million tonnes, writes the New York Times. Never before have they found so much at that time. Until then, most of the seaweed is drifting out in the Atlantic Ocean. Several of the islands, such as French Guadeloupe, have already received a lot of seaweed on their beaches. In some places on Guadeloupe, such as Baie Olive, there is so much seaweed that it fills an entire bay. Sargasso seaweed, here photographed off the French island of Guadeloupe in April, floats on the surface and can be up to 70-80 centimeters thick. Photo: AFP Florida Last week, seaweed also began to drift ashore in Florida. Most of it is expected to drift ashore in June, but it is already clear that large quantities will arrive. Oscar Vasquez has lived in Miami Beach, Florida for 20 years. He tells CBS that he has never seen so much seaweed this early in the year. – There are parts of the beach where there is so much seaweed at the water’s edge that it is disgusting and difficult to go into the water, he says. And that is before the large quantities of seaweed have arrived. National Geographic describes it as “a huge, rotting mass threatens the US beach season”. Illustration from the space agency Nasa shows the distribution of sargasso seaweed in March 2023. The red areas are those with the highest concentration of seaweed, the yellow with medium. The bruised areas also have seaweed, but in low concentration. Photo: Nasa Smells like rotten eggs When the seaweed is washed ashore, it can cause health problems, writes CBS. As the seaweed rots, it releases hydrogen sulfide. It is gas with a strong stench of rotten eggs. The gas can cause irritation in the eyes, nose and throat and will particularly bother asthmatics, says the Florida Department of Health. A number of small insects also live in the seaweed, such as jellyfish larvae, which can irritate the skin if you come into contact with them. A study from 2022 linked rotting seaweed to an increased risk of pregnancy complications, writes AFP. The brown sargasso seaweed covers most of Baie Olive in Saint Francois on the French island of Guadeloupe. The beautiful Caribbean beach does not look very inviting to tourists. Photo: AFP Strong increase The last decade or so has seen a strong, almost explosive, growth in the amount of seaweed. The first year it was noticed that there was an unusual amount of seaweed was in 2011. Since then it has become more and more. 2022 was a record year and everything indicates that there will be even more this year. So far, around 13 million tonnes of seaweed have been observed, Nasa writes. It is expected that it will increase to 20 million tonnes in July. Illustration from the space agency Nasa shows how the distribution of sargasso seaweed spread in the period 2011 to 2018. Photo: Nasa Climate and environmental changes A group of researchers has looked at the increase. In an article published in Science, they explain the increase with nutrients entering the sea from the Amazon and Congo rivers. More use of artificial fertilizers in agriculture and deforestation give more nutrients to the rivers. This in turn has effects in the sea. The increase is not due to warmer sea temperatures due to climate change, they write. Nevertheless, one of the authors, Chuanmin Hu, says that it is linked to climate change because it leads to changes in rainfall, ocean currents and how people cultivate the land. Hu tells Nasa that we must expect the large quantities of seaweed to continue in the years to come. – This is probably here to stay, he says. Tulum in Mexico is known for having one of the world’s most beautiful beaches. Last year they cleared away the seaweed with wheelbarrows. This year, even more seaweed is expected. Photo: AP Going beyond tourism Across the Caribbean, the tourism industry fears that the seaweed will scare away tourists. In 2018, a year with a lot of seaweed, there were more empty rooms than usual in the hotels on the so-called Riviera Maya on the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula. This year, the hotels on the same coast are preparing for the arrival of almost a meter of sargasso seaweed. Jose Viator runs a beach bar in Guadeloupe, writes AFP. His bar is located at Capesterre, in the southeast of the island. Normally, the beautiful beaches and the turquoise sea attract large numbers of tourists. Viator had hoped to make good money from the tourists now. Instead, the tang has forced him to close because no tourists come. – It is a nightmare, he says.
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Record abundance of sargasso seaweed threatens Caribbean beaches – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
