The clumps of brown seaweed, called Sargassum, are part of a massive bloom collecting in the Caribbean Sea spanning about 5,000 miles.
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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.
The seaweed, which smells like rotten eggs and emits toxic gases when it comes ashore, proved a nuisance for Florida beachgoers in the spring – which is also the start of the Sunshine State's tourist season.
There are reports that the typically clear blue waters of Marathon, Florida have been inundated by the seaweed. Additionally, beaches on Florida's east coast, including Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and the Miami Beach area, are also seeing mounds of sargassum wash ashore.
Popular resort hubs, including Playa del Carmen and Tulum, have ramped up efforts to deter sargassum from affecting travelers. What is this? Both destinations have set up temporary barriers and hired more cleaners in an effort to attract more travelers.
Sargassum season in the Mexican Caribbean typically runs from May through October, with July and August generally being the worst months for its arrival.
In Mexico, sargassum seaweed season is generally between May and October each year. If you travel to the Caribbean coast of Mexico outside of that time period you can generally avoid large mats of seaweed on the beaches. Cancun to Tulum seaweed map in March 2022.
Of primary importance is the condition that seaweed cannot be removed from the beach. Seaweed can only be hand raked to the toe of the dune. Anyone wishing to apply for a beach raking permit can apply at the Town's Building Department.
Playa Porto Mari on Curacao, Dutch CaribbeanOne of the most beautiful beaches in Curacao also happens to be one of the best Caribbean beaches without sargassum. Located on the west coast of the island of Curacao, Playa Porto Mari is a private beach which means there is an entrance fee.
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.
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.
Unfortunately, that means all this seaweed on our beaches could be a “new normal.” There are many possible reasons why we are seeing more and more Sargassum in the Atlantic. One possible contributor is nutrient pollution from land that washes into the ocean from cities, farms, roadways and other human sources.
The blob, known as the great Atlantic Sargassum belt, shrank in the Gulf of Mexico by 75 percent last month, scientists said. For months, Florida's usually picturesque coast was plagued by a rotting tangle of seaweed, known as sargassum.