“This is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s more coming,” shared Professor Brian LaPointe at FAU.
He’s referring to what experts are calling the Sargassum Belt. It’s 5,000 miles long and 3,000 miles wide of seaweed that develops in the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean.
Every year the belt heads farther and farther west, going through the Caribbean and landing on the shores of Florida.
“When it’s out in the ocean, it’s really a good thing. It's home to over 100 species of fishes and invertebrates,” explained LaPointe. “But it has catastrophic effects on tourism when it gets piled so high.”
In areas like Fort Lauderdale, the city said it has already washed ashore. The Superintendent of Parks said while they have cleared most of the beaches so far, they have seen twice as many algae compared to this time last year.
They have already removed about 500 yards.
“We use machinery that has tines on it,” explained Mark Almy. “It’s a trailer that’s pulled behind a big tractor, it has a conveyor on it, and it grabs the seaweed. We put it on a hopper, and then it’s shipped into a truck and then brought here to compost in 90 to 120 days.”
Lapointe shared that as the thick brown algae wash ashore, it releases hydrogen sulfide, which comes with a rotten egg smell. It could be harmful to our health and also to our ecology.
“It’s a real issue for sea turtles, not just the nests being crushed by heavy equipment, but also these young turtles, when they hatch, they have a hard time getting to the water.”
He furthered, “If you have got all this toxic hydrogen sulfide and anoxic water, you basically have a dead zone. You have no oxygen in the water, which can lead to fish kills. “
In 2011, scientists began to notice this seaweed, and every year it has continued to return. LaPointe said in some years, like 2014 and 2018, it has multiplied in size.
Experts believe that is due to flooding events in the Amazon and the nutrients it feeds to this seaweed.
Lapointe said last year was a record-breaking year, which means this year could be much of the same, “We are going to have to adapt to this new normal.”
He furthered with a laugh, “I don’t even want to think about what this will be like in 10 years or 20 years from now.”
As for spring breakers like Elizabeth and her mother, who are looking to enjoy the sun and sand, they share they are not fazed by the brown blooms.
“I just ignore it,” Elizabeth said with a laugh.
