Search results
People also ask
Is this the most Sargassum we've seen on our beaches?
Is this the most Sargassum South Florida has seen?
Is Sargassum blooming?
Is there more Sargassum in the ocean?
This brown seaweed provides a crucial habitat for many marine species, including endangered sea turtles which, upon hatching on our beaches, make their way out to the Sargassum to spend their juvenile years feeding and growing amongst the seaweed mats.
Apr 4, 2023 · Beached sargassum surrounds a pair of sunbathers in Boca Raton on March 31, 2023. We already knew South Florida beaches were bracing for a surge of seaweed, but the mass of seaweed looming...
- Nicolas Rivero
Apr 9, 2023 · Beached sargassum surrounds a pair of sunbathers in Boca Raton on March 31, 2023. 13 million tons of seaweed are bobbing off the coast as this year’s Great Atlantic Sargassum Bloom sets new records.
- What Is Sargassum?
- Why Is It Appearing on Beaches?
- When Will It Go away?
- What Are The Health Risks?
- How Are Cities Dealing with Sargassum?
Sargassum is a seaweed with small air-filled "berries" that floats in island-like masses on the ocean. It's naturally occurring and provides an important habitat for migratory organisms such as crabs, shrimps, sea turtles and commercially important fish species such as tuna and marlin.
Sargassum has flourished in recent years due to the perfect combination of an increase in nutrient runoff from the Amazon River, upwelling off the western coast of Africa and changing water temperatures. In 2011 the mats grew to form a 5,550-mile-long belt that extended from West Africa to the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Winds and currents th...
Stephanie Molloy, the city's natural resources director in Naples, Florida, told the Naples Daily News she expects the conditions to improve around October or November; however, the great Atlantic sargassum belt may be the "new norm," according to a recent reportby the American Association for the Advancement of Science "Nutrients from deep ocean u...
First off: Sargassum is not toxic. When sargassum washes ashore and starts decaying, it releases hydrogen sulfide, which could negatively affect those with asthma and other respiratory conditions. It could also contain arsenicor other bacteria. Samples taken from sargassum on some of Mexico's Caribbean beaches had arsenic levels 60% higher than tho...
Naples, Florida, staff monitors the beach daily, Dana Souza, director of community services there, told the Naples Daily News, which is a part of the USA TODAY Network. Often the Gulf of Mexico’s tide cycles will pull the seaweed back out to sea. When the tide cycle does not remove the seaweed, city staff will deploy equipment to remove it. "We hav...
Jan 17, 2024 · Beached sargassum surrounds a pair of sunbathers in Boca Raton on March 31, 2023. Last year’s 5,500-mile-long swath of yellow-brown seaweed stretching over the Atlantic Ocean from West Africa...
May 26, 2021 · BOCA RATON, Fla. — Anyone who's been to the beach lately knows there's a lot of seaweed. Researchers at Florida Atlantic University said it's some of the most sargassum South Florida has seen...
