The cleanup of piles of decomposing seaweed on the beaches of Mexico’s Riviera Maya continues as the record-breaking bloom, the size of Jamaica, keeps washing ashore.
While this seaweed is not unusual in the area, this extreme bloom of 20m tonnes of seaweed may be threatening Mexico’s ocean and the tourism industry which relies on it.
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The ‘Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt’ stretches for more than 8,000 km from west Africa to the Gulf of Mexico.
This seaweed is not uncommon in the Atlantic Ocean. However, the enormous quantities noted in recent years have not been seen before.
Scientists say it is becoming a yearly event. First noticed in 2011, new research using NASA satellite imagery concluded that it has appeared every year since then – and it keeps growing bigger.
Researchers have found that the bloom is at its height in the middle of the year and develops from small amounts of seaweed in the middle of the Atlantic.
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It is suspected the bloom is triggered by fertilisers and deforestation byproducts being swept into the Amazon river and out into the Atlantic. There, if the sea temperature and salinity are conducive, these extra nutrients causes the seaweed to bloom.
The seaweed does provide habitat and food for fish, crabs, shrimp, turtles and birds out on the high seas. However, very thick patches can block sunlight which sink and crash on the ocean floor once they die, which is detrimental to the health of coral.
Tourists and locals alike have also been impacted by the bloom. Last month the Mexican state of Quintana Roo declared a state of emergency as a means to get funding to clean away the decomposing piles of seaweed which had washed onto its shores.
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The decomposing seaweed releases sulphur gas, which is said to smell like rotten eggs, and attracts insects.
This has caused upheaval in the local tourism industry as visitor numbers have reportedly decreased this year since the seaweed’s arrival. Local cleanup teams have been working to remove the seaweed and barriers have been set up off shore to prevent the seaweed from washing up on the beaches.
The Riviera Maya Hotel Association is assisting hotels in transferring guests to resorts not affected by the bloom while the cleanup is underway.
Image: Sargassum Science
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