Hey there! Have you heard about the huge amounts of seaweed washing up on Caribbean beaches? 🌊 This May, a record-breaking 38 million tonnes of sargassum seaweed piled up across the Caribbean Sea and nearby areas. That’s like stacking over 3 million school buses full of seaweed! 🚌🚌🚌
This brown, prickly algae is causing a lot of problems. It’s covering beautiful beaches from Puerto Rico all the way to Guyana. Not only does it make swimming tricky, but it also smells really bad when it starts to rot! 🤢 Some schools in places like Martinique even had to close because of the stinky gases it releases.
Wildlife is struggling too. The seaweed can block sunlight that coral reefs need to survive. It can also trap sea turtles and harm other ocean creatures. 🐢🐠
Scientists are scratching their heads about why there’s so much sargassum this year. It might be because of changes in the ocean, like warmer water or more nutrients from river runoff. They’re studying things like sunlight, water temperature, and nutrients to find out more. 🔬
Tourism is super important for the Caribbean islands, and the seaweed is making it tough for people to enjoy the beaches. Some places are using barriers or sending out big teams to clean it up. In St. Maarten, they even used giant machines called backhoes to scoop it away! 🚜
The sargassum usually grows most in late spring and summer, so more could be on the way. But don’t worry—many islands are working hard to keep their beaches clean and fun for everyone! 🏝️
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
