Those that got here to Central Florida for a calming seaside trip have been met with piles of sargassum seaweed, which might be dangerous to people. Protecting Cocoa Seaside, Florida the invasion occurs yearly however this yr it’s hitting document numbers.
Associated: Sargassum Seaweed In Florida: 2023′ Newest Updates
Not like regular ocean seaweed, this seaweed has each a pungent scent and releases dangerous chemical compounds when it decomposes. Together with a nasty rotten-egg stench, extended publicity might be harmful for these with respiratory points.
This March noticed document numbers for the entire sargassum belt, measuring at 13 million metric tons, which is about .1% of the ocean’s floor. And in accordance with Professor Chuanmin Hu, who teaches oceanography on the College of South Florida Faculty of Marine Science, extra seaweed floating within the jap Atlantic proper goes to come back to Florida.
Professor Hu states that much more sargassum seaweed needs to be on the Florida shores as sometimes sargassum seaweed gathers by the top of Might or early June on the Florida coasts.
He states {that a} mixture of hotter oceans in addition to vitamins from the ocean backside coming to the floor are among the causes the sargassum blob is rising to be so giant.
Miami-Dade County has already collected shut to five,000 cubic yards whereas Broward County up to now has collected 920. That is near 650 yards greater than they collected in comparison with the identical time this yr.
As sargassum begins to overwhelm the seashores, counties are racing to provide you with methods to scrub up each for the protection of people and for animals. From turtle nesting and different gadgets, there’s a huge environmental facet to this invasive seaweed.
The huge belt of seaweed is impacting the Yucatán Peninsula and the jap Caribbean as effectively, with extra to come back over the following a number of weeks and months.
