A Blanket of Seaweed Smothers Coastlines From the Caribbean to Mexico
Mexico will deploy specialized navy ships and barriers as officials say up to 9,000 tons of seaweed can hit its Caribbean coast on bad days.
- On Thursday, Mexico announced a $115 million investment to combat record sargassum levels on its Caribbean coastline, though current resources allow collecting only 1,200 tons daily against up to 9,000 tons reaching shores.
- Record-Breaking sargassum blooms in the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt reached 27 million metric tons in July, driven by warming waters, nutrient pollution, and ocean circulation patterns affecting the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.
- In Quintana Roo, environmental officials expect 119,000 tons of seaweed to wash ashore by year's end, with managing the algae consuming roughly 11% of the state's GDP, or about $2 billion annually.
- Dozens of beaches in Quintana Roo have been placed on red alert, with some closing entirely as decomposing sargassum releases hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas causing nausea, headaches and respiratory irritation.
- Satellite monitoring reveals the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt will not disappear anytime soon; experts advocate connecting satellite observations with targeted intervention strategies to manage the unprecedented seaweed threat effectively.
63 Articles
63 Articles
Mexico struggles with flood of coastal seaweed
Hundreds of Mexican hotel workers, tractor operators and Navy personnel are heading out to the beach each day at dawn to clean record masses of rotting sargassum seaweed off pristine Caribbean coastlines around popular tourist resorts.The seasonal phenomenon has caused hotels across the Caribbean to
Record Sargassum Influx Hits Tourism and Coastal Ecosystems in the Mexican Caribbean
PUERTO MORELOS, QUINTANA ROO — A massive influx of sargassum seaweed has invaded the coasts of the Mexican Caribbean, reaching an unprecedented record that surpasses historical levels and severely impacting local tourism, fisheries, and marine ecosystems. Data from the Optical Oceanography Laboratory at the University of South Florida indicates that approximately 5 million metric tons of sargassum accumulated in the Mexican Caribbean by June—fou…
Caribbean battles record sargassum seaweed with boats, barriers and biofuel as Mexico ramps up cleanup and explores new uses
MEXICO CITY: Hundreds of Mexican hotel workers, tractor operators and specialized Navy personnel are heading out to the beach each day at dawn to clean record masses of rotting sargassum seaweed off pristine Caribbean coastlines around popular tourist resorts.The seasonal phenomenon has caused hotels across the Caribbean to cut rates and invest millions of dollars in clearing up piles of the foul-smelling algae from their beaches, while governm…
PBS NewsHour
BizTocHuge blankets of seaweed are smothering coastlines from the Caribbean to Mexico
Some 27 million metric tons of self-sustaining sargassum have been recorded in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico in July, according to a report released Friday by the University of South Florida’s Optical Oceanography Lab.
Associated Press News
A blanket of seaweed smothers coastlines from the Caribbean to Mexico
Swaths of sargassum are blanketing the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, suffocating shorelines and snuffing out marine life while spooking visitors in areas that depend heavily on tourism.
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