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Sargassum seaweed is a concern on some islands

RNCollins

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7B0FEF80-773C-4D34-B009-A123A6AD3278.jpeg

Sargassum seaweed / Image source: Mission Blue


Sargassum seaweed is a concern on some islands

https://www.travelweekly.com/Caribb...m-seaweed-a-concern-on-some-Caribbean-islands

By Gay Nagle Myers / Travel Weekly / July 3, 2018

“It’s back.

Sargassum seaweed is the unwelcome visitor that began washing up on beaches in parts of the Caribbean and Florida in late spring.

Sargassum made a brief appearance in the Caribbean in summer 2011 and had a massive comeback in the summer of 2015. Now, undulating rafts of the stinking slimy seaweed are turning Caribbean waters on some islands reddish-brown, swamping beaches and trapping sea turtles and marine life as it washes ashore on each tide.

In Barbados, the trickle actually started in January, but had ramped up dramatically by late May and early June.

The government declared a national emergency on June 7, after satellite observations warned of record-setting sargassum making its way to its shores on the east and south coasts, according the Barbados Government Information Service.

"This onslaught does pose a national emergency to our marine life, our beaches, our people and our fishing and tourism industries," said Kirk Humphrey, minister of maritime affairs.

"The government is doing what we can by raking the beaches daily, removing it, burying it, taking it to landfills, but more comes each day."

Humphrey said that researchers in Barbados are investigating the use of sargassum as a sustainable energy source and fertilizer....”
 

Maple_Leaf

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Now, undulating rafts of the stinking slimy seaweed are turning Caribbean waters on some islands reddish-brown, swamping beaches and trapping sea turtles and marine life as it washes ashore on each tide.
I always heard old sea stories about that creepy Sargasso Sea as a kid. Old clipper ships forever trapped in the seaweed. Pirates living amongst the wrecked vessels waiting to pounce upon some unlucky mariner. And now it's surrounding Barbados!
 

dioxide45

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We were in Barbados in May and the seaweed was really bad. They simply can't keep up with it and the government doesn't do anything to clean it up. It is up to the individual hotel and resort properties to clean the beaches in front of them. The government of Barbados has other problems to deal with (inefficient and overflowing sewer system) and this just adds on top of it.

I suspect it will continue to get worse. No one really knows the cause, some speculate global warming while others think it could be the result of more agricultural runoff that is increasing the blooms.
 

Sandy VDH

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http://seas-forecast.com/

This is a project where they are monitoring large sargassum mats from satellite images. It is bad in places but not everywhere.
 

moonstone

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The sargassum not only looks bad but it really stinks when it is drying out up on the beach. Our friends (US expats) who live in Corozal Belize cut short a little vacation to Caye Caulker (an island off the coast of Belize) this spring due to the stench and not being able to go in the water due to it. The hotels hire guys to rake it up and cart it away but more floats back in almost as fast.


~Diane
 
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