Sargassum season in the Dominican Republic has not been as shocking this year as it has been in other Caribbean destinations, such as some parts of Mexico.
However, the D.R. forecast is about to change, according to the latest satellite images revealed by South Florida University’s Optical Oceanography Laboratory.
This institution gathers scientists and engineers who carry out research on a variety of marine topics through the use of optics and remote sensing as working tools.
Its College of Marine Science has developed the Sargassum Watch System (SaWS) to discover and track seaweed across the ocean in “near real-time.”
They look to understand how ocean ecosystems change and its link to “climate change and human activities.”
According to two satellite images revealed by the SaWS recently, a large mass of sargassum is approaching the coasts of the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.
This suggests that these countries may be about to see a peak of seaweed biomass over the next few weeks.
Using images like these, in April, the SaWSAs predicted an increase in sargassum in most areas of the Atlantic. Effectively, in May, the region saw 10 million metric tons of algae.
The western Caribbean Sea saw the largest increase (400% or 0.4 million tons).
So far in 2024, popular beach destinations like Punta Cana have not been particularly affected by sargassum.
In fact, members of our FB group, the Dominican Republic Sargassum Seaweed Reports, have reported that sargassum hasn’t been a vacation-threatening issue and that everyday cleanups have been very effective.
“Bavaro Beach at the Majestic Resorts. Not too much sargassum and it’s cleaned every morning,” said a FB commenter last week.
But reports of “visible” sargassum started to emerge around June 11.
“Lots of sargassum for a few days around [Lopesan Costa Bávaro Resort Spa & Casino]. Lopesan is not that keen on clearing up sargassum. I saw tourists trying to clear out the seaweed from the water,” said another FB commenter on June 12.
Things have not been as good for other beaches, like Andrés in Boca Chica, which suffered a sargassum inundation last week.
Observing the phenomenon, experts claimed that an increase in sargassum was “imminent” with the arrival of summer.
To tackle the issue, the D.R. Sargassum Fighting Cabinet is developing short-term policies to fight the potential problems that a massive seaweed arrival would bring to the local economy this season.
Sargassum Season 2024 in the Caribbean
This year, sargassum season started later than usual.
So far, a number of Caribbean beaches have been negatively impacted by massive seaweed arrivals, including popular tourist destinations like Playa del Carmen, Tulum and Isla Mujeres in Mexico, as well as Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Florida.
“Many Caribbean nations and islands will see increased sargassum inundations in June, including the coastal regions along the Mexican Caribbean coast. The southeast coast of Florida (including the Florida Keys) may experience increased amounts of sargassum but not to an alarming level,” the SaWS forecasts.