The beaches along the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean are in danger because of a huge blanket of seaweed that is about 5,000 miles long.
The so-called “Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt,” which can be seen from space, is thought to have some benefits, such as providing a home for some fish and crustaceans and soaking up carbon dioxide.
But now, ocean currents are pushing tons of seaweed onto beaches, which is causing a lot of trouble.
There, it can choke corals, wreck coastal ecosystems, and lower the quality of water and air as it rots.
Brian LaPointe, a research professor at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University, told NBC: “It’s really amazing.
“From what we can see from space, it doesn’t look like this will be a good year for clean beaches.”
Mr. LaPointe has been studying Sargassum for 40 years. He said that huge piles of the algae usually wash up in South Florida in May, but that the beaches in Key West are already full of it.
Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum, which are all on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, are getting ready for up to three feet of Sargassum to build up in the next few days.
Brian Barnes, an assistant research professor at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science, said, “Even if it’s just out in coastal waters, it can block intake valves for things like power plants or desalination plants, marinas can get completely flooded, and boats can’t get through.”
“It can really put important infrastructure at risk.”
He said that the size of the bloom in recent years would have been unimaginable decades ago.
“Sargassum has always been a part of the ecosystem as far back as we have records, but it is so much bigger now.
“Five years ago, we would have thought this was a big change, but now it’s not even a blip.”
