Sargassum weed mucks up beach activities

Our national news has recently been full of warnings about the huge raft of sargassum weed headed for the shores of Florida. Let us not discount the potential impacts to a family vacation at the wrong place and the wrong time, but perhaps a little perspective would be helpful here, because this is neither new nor particularly dire at the moment.
 
Even though people do not like walking through piles of sargassum weed (the name comes from the Sargasso Sea, which is the source of much of this algae), fishermen love the stuff.  
 
While at times the weed is “too” prevalent and it makes trolling without fouling the baits difficult, it is usually pushed by the wind and currents into somewhat compacted, fishable “weed lines.”  
 
Many small baitfish live in and under these floating shelters, and weed lines are the first thing offshore fishermen, especially those searching for dolphin fish (or mahi-mahi), are looking for this time of year in the Gulf Stream.
 
Sargassum weed has been floating around in the central Atlantic practically forever, so what’s all of the fuss about?  First, depending on one’s source, the current bloom is from two to four times the normal size.  
 
The giant raft of “weed” floating toward the Caribbean Islands and Central and North America this year is truly massive. And the most troubling part of that is nobody is sure exactly why.  
 
According to Dr. Melinda Simmons, a professor of marine sciences at Jacksonville University, it is a combination of factors including various (human-induced) nutrients from river runoff and warmer water for more of the year than was historically normal.
 
Unlike the “red tide” events which have plagued Gulf Coast beaches in recent years, sargassum weed is not toxic. It does not kill fish and it is generally harmless to people.  
 
However, in these massive amounts it can create problems. Near-shore reefs and beaches can become inundated. Too much weed makes swimming or walking unpleasant, if not difficult. And a large amount of sargassum weed decaying on the beach genuinely stinks. 
 
Additionally, it releases hydrogen sulfide as it decays, which can be a respiratory irritant for those with asthma or other respiratory challenges.  
 
In a nutshell, a beach covered in sargassum weed is unpleasant to humans and is unlikely to be attractive for vacations, spring break activities, or other activities.
 
From Barbados and its 1,600 dump truck runs of weed per day to a Cayman Island effort to pump the weed directly out of the ocean, vast resources have been deployed to manage the recent sargassum blooms. For now, it looks like all that can be done is to manage the symptoms.  
 
Ultimately, humans are going to need to manage the causes, too.
 

Daniel Island Publishing

225 Seven Farms Drive
Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
Fax Number: 843-856-8555

 

Breaking News Alerts

To sign up for breaking news email alerts, Click on the email address below and put "email alerts" in the subject line: sdetar@thedanielislandnews.com

Comment Here