Is seaweed bad in Fort Lauderdale?

The seaweed itself is not harmful to humans, but decaying sargassum on beaches releases hydrogen sulfide that can impact people with breathing issues. That said, even decaying sargassum is not considered harmful because the gases disperse quickly on breezy beaches.



People Also Ask

Florida's seaweed season typically runs from April until October, peaking in June and July. The seaweed comes in waves, depending on currents and wind direction. The seaweed itself is not harmful to humans, but decaying sargassum on beaches releases hydrogen sulfide that can impact people with breathing issues.

MORE DETAILS

As summer is now in full swing, however, scientists with the University of South Florida Optical Oceanography Lab found a drop in the amount of sargassum blooms. Sargassum seaweed on a Fort Lauderdale beach. May 2023. They noted that the amount of seaweed dropped by about 9 million metric tons between May and June.

MORE DETAILS

Sargassum seaweed is not a new phenomena, but this year's mass was the largest ever recorded. Florida's seaweed season typically runs from April until October, peaking in June and July. The seaweed comes in waves, depending on currents and wind direction.

MORE DETAILS

As a result of this, Fort Lauderdale crews are out daily, scooping up the fresh sargassum from the beaches. They take truckloads of it to a park where the city repurposes it and by the time it decomposes, it has very little smell and becomes fertile soil.

MORE DETAILS

no matter how much Sargassum we'll land on the east coast beaches, the west coast of Florida is largely spared every year [and] this year is no exception, Dr. Hu says. Nevertheless, they still anticipate there will soon be an impact on beaches in South Florida where the brown seaweed washes ashore.

MORE DETAILS

  • Grand Anse in St. ...
  • Morne Rouge Beach on Grenada. ...
  • Grace Bay Beach in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. ...
  • Palm Beach in Aruba, Dutch Caribbean. ...
  • Playa Porto Mari on Curacao, Dutch Caribbean. ...
  • Bloody Bay and Long Bay Beaches in Negril, Jamaica. ...
  • Beaches in Antigua & Barbuda.


MORE DETAILS

Human activity and climate variability have caused sargassum blooms to get bigger since about 2011, according to Chuanmin Hu, a USF oceanography professor who is part of the sargassum observation team.

MORE DETAILS

Since 2011, 2023 still ranks in the top half of the worst sargassum seaweed seasons. With the latest data, USF researchers say in June, sargassum will likely decrease in the Gulf of Mexico, meaning beachgoers may not have such a smelly experience. The USF lab forecasts the decrease to continue through August.

MORE DETAILS

Bits of Sargassum seaweed are washing ashore around Avenida 16-18 on Tuesday, May 23, 2023. Giant blobs of Sargassum hug the shoreline next to the William O Lockhart Municipal Pier in Lake Worth Beach, Florida on June 1, 2023. Sargassum accumulates on the beach at Phipps Ocean Park Tuesday May 30, 2023 in Palm Beach.

MORE DETAILS

Here's why seaweed is piling up along Florida beaches Since 2011, a fleet of seaweed patches double the size of the contiguous U.S. has cycled from West Africa to Florida, threatening beaches from Martinique to Miami. This year, it could grow bigger.

MORE DETAILS

In Grenada, Grand Anse regularly tops the list of the world's best beaches due to its crystal clear waters and its 2 kilometre long stretch of white sand dotted with palm trees. It's also blessedly free of sargassum seaweed.

MORE DETAILS

Researchers said this year could be the largest sargassum blooms ever recorded. It's already stretching over Haulover Beach, Sunny Isles, Hollywood Beach and Fort Lauderdale Beach.

MORE DETAILS

2023 is shaping up to be a banner year for sargassum, a type of brown macroalgae now starting to wash up on beaches across the Caribbean. The thick dead tangled heaps of seaweed stink like rotten eggs and could cost many millions in holiday revenues this summer.

MORE DETAILS