The total quantity of sargasse, the green and yellow algae that can be washed on the beaches of southern Florida in spring and summer, is at record levels, researchers said in a monthly report.
Algae, which often stinks of rotten eggs once it is washed on the ground, has not yet reached the south of Florida, but it currently derives in this way.
A cartography system designed by the Optical Oceanography Laboratory of the University of Florida of the South shows that Sargasse levels for April in the Oriental Caribbean and the adjacent Atlantic Ocean were 200% higher than their historic files for April.
The total amount during the combination of all regions, including the Gulf, was 150% higher than the historic file in April. All in all, the coverage was 40% higher than the summit of all time in June 2022.
Experts expect the floating algae carpets entering the Gulf of Mexico, then drift on the currents of the Gulf Stream to meet along the beaches in the south of Florida.
The USF has been mapped the abundance of algae since 2011.
Sargasse generally flowers from May to August, both locally and across the Atlantic. The ocean currents transport it closer to Florida as spring progresses.
It is not known when the sargasse could reach the south of Florida en masse. Once the case, Barnes said that the wind still had to push him to the ground.
Although Sargasse supports a marine life food chain in the open ocean, once he breaks down on the shore, he can release hydrogen sulfide, a gas that has a smell reminiscent of rotten eggs and can cause respiratory problems.
The quantity of often shiny algae that washed on the beaches has increased enormously in the past dozens of years, bringing frustration to the southern Florida beach and causing real economic damage in the Caribbean.
Sargarssum has historically grown in the Sargasse Sea, an area surrounding the Bermuda and reaching around half of the Atlantic. But around 2011, the flowers began to move south, closer to the equator. This has not only increased their size, but put them on a trajectory that swept them through the Gulf, and therefore finally on the beaches in the south of Florida.
Barnes said that researchers examine why the abundance of sargassum fluctuates. He said that the temperatures on the sea surface can be too hot, so it’s not as simple as being closer to the equator. The increases in deep currents can feed the sargasse with nutrients, he said. Other researchers have suggested that high years of rain in the Amazon basin make more nutrients flow into the equatorial Atlantic, thus supplying algae.
Certain parts of the Amazon region were faced with severe drought in 2024, and some regions are now recovering. But 2025 should stay below normal.
For the future: researchers said May should see an increase in algae continues in most regions. “Sargasse’s flood will continue to occur in most nations and the Caribbean islands as well as along the southeast coast of Florida,” said the report.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
