sargassum

A tractor plows seaweed that washed ashore into the beach sand on March 16, 2023 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Reports indicate that this summer, a huge mass of sargassum seaweed that has formed in the Atlantic Ocean is possibly headed for the Florida coastlines and shores.

Giant blobs of seaweed are hitting Florida. That's when the real problem begins

4:39pm May 05, 2023

by Emily Olson

From Montego Bay to Miami, sargassum is leaving stinky brown carpets over what was once prime tourist sand. But whether it gets ignored or removed, it comes with high health and environmental risks.

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People remove Sargassum in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, in April, 2022. Researchers expect this year will bring another massive bloom, choking local ecosystems and tourism economies.

Meet the sargassum belt, a 5,000-mile-long snake of seaweed circling Florida

9:47am March 15, 2023

by Emily Olson

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.

Seaweed covers the Atlantic shore in Frigate Bay, St. Kitts and Nevis, on Wednesday. A record amount of seaweed is smothering Caribbean coasts from Puerto Rico to Barbados.

A record amount of seaweed is choking shores in the Caribbean

11:00am August 03, 2022

by The Associated Press

Seaweed is smothering Caribbean coasts from Puerto Rico to Barbados as tons of brown algae kill wildlife, choke the tourism industry and release toxic gases.

Men walk between the sargassum towards a boat in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, May 2019.

How To Handle A Massive Seaweed Invasion? Yucatán Towns Get Creative

7:00am August 18, 2019

by Jen Karetnick

Sargassum, a stinky algae, is choking beaches in Mexico and the Caribbean and wreaking havoc on the ecosystem — and tourism. From fertilizer to food, locals are experimenting with new uses for it.