For months, tourists save up for their dream beach vacation. Every paycheck, they put aside some money with the vision of lounging in the sun, sand and surf of a tropical destination with their feet in the sand and a drink in their hand.
Finally, the big day has arrived and it’s time to hit the beach. Instead of the white soft sand of a tropical getaway, it’s full of smelly brown seaweed and the dream of a perfect beach vacation is ruined.
What exactly is this brown smelly seaweed called sargassum, where did it come from and why is it ruining my dream beach vacation!
Seaweed or Sargassum
Seaweed is a general term used to describe macroalgae which grow in the ocean.
There are three main types, red algae, kelp and sargassum. Tourists are most likely to encounter sargassum on beaches, especially on the Atlantic coast.
Sargassum traditionally originates in Sargasso Sea which is considered by many to be the rainforest of the sea. Warm waters enable the macroalgae to grow in clumps.
It is an important source of food for unique animals that live off the sargassum and can’t be found anywhere else in the world.
The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt
According to the Ocean Conservancy, most of the sargassum tourists find on beaches of places like the Yucatan Peninsula, the Caribbean or areas along the Gulf of Mexico is most likely not from the traditional Sargasso Sea, but instead from the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt.
Some think it is related to global warming, but the belt has sargassum that less biodiverse and carries larger sargassum patches, some 5,000 miles long and 300 miles wide.
At the thickest point of the belt, the sargassum amounts to more than 22 million tons of the macroalgae.
Due to tropical storms, high winds or even churning of the ocean current, the sargassum breaks free from the belt and makes its way towards some of the top tourist beach destinations in the world.
Sargassum on the Shores
Strands of the macroalgae then wash up on the beaches where it is considered an eyesore by travelers expecting clean white sand beaches on their vacation.
Hotels, government agencies and tourism workers are employed in areas impacted by sargassum to try to keep up with the removal of the weed on tourist beaches. Elimination of sargassum is a high priority in tourist areas and costs millions of dollars annually.
Recently, even the Mexican Navy was deployed in the Cancun area to fight public enemy number one – sargassum.
What is That Smell?
If it is left on the beach, it quickly starts to rot and emit a fowl odor in the hot tropical sun. Not it is not only a nuisance on the beach, but a smelly one as well.
The hydrogen sulfide odor also is considered a health hazard with the potential to cause stinging eyes, nose and throat along with asthma symptoms in sensitive people.
This is not exactly what most tourists had in mind when they were dreaming of that white sand tropical beach getaway.
What Can Be Done With Sargassum?
That’s the million-dollar question, quite literally. Creative investors are working on ways to eliminate the problem with sargassum by turning it into an investable business opportunity.
While some sargassum finds its way into the food chain as a thickening agent, among other uses, the are several competitions underway offering to award money to those finding a commercial solution to the sargassum issue.
Hopefully, a solution to the sargassum issue is coming soon. Now, that’s something that tourists can look forward to for their next vacation getaway on the sun, sand and surf of a tropical destination.