Sargassum (seaweed) pollution — Courtesy: Shutterstock — Bret Reyes
There aren’t many more summer weekends left, and people are hoping that the foul-smelling sargassum seaweed that covered Florida’s beaches last year won’t return.
Sargassum invaded the Sunshine State in historic numbers during the spring and summer of last year, but so far in 2024, far less seaweed has been observed.
In the tropical Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico seas, sargassum is typically sighted in the spring and summer.
While it’s a home for marine life while it floats in the broad ocean, many claim it can grow irritating and smell really unpleasant when it washes ashore.
So far, the worst of it has not reached the Sunshine State.
Chuamin Hu, an oceanography professor at the University of South Florida, stated, “We actually predicted this three months ago.” “We said, this year Florida may see just a little amount or nothing.”
The Fort Lauderdale park operations supervisor informed FOX Weather Correspondent Brandy Campbell that although workers still need to remove sargassum from beaches this year, records indicate they have removed roughly one-third of what was removed in 2023.
So what’s so different about this year?
Researchers began to observe large amounts of sargassum in the eastern Caribbean and tropical Atlantic earlier this year, but the customary rapid development did not continue.
Ocean currents are another topic of study for researchers.
“By ocean currents, if you don’t have a strong ocean current, then you don’t have the momentum,” Hu explained. “So, that’s the only explanation as to why they grow not as fast as in past years, there could be multiple factors – ocean temperatures, nutrient availability.”
According to the most recent forecast, sargassum shipments will continue to reach Florida and the Florida Keys. Mats of the foul-smelling seaweed will drift over the southern Bahamas.
In 2024, the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Barbados will be among the locations experiencing the worst sargassum seaweed outbreak to date.
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