by San Juan, Puerto Rico (AP) – a record amount of Sargassum that is piled up in the Caribbean and nearby areas in May, and more is expected this month, according to a new report.
The brown spiky algae suffocate coastal lines from Puerto Rico to Guyana and beyond, disturb tourism, kill wild animals and even ensure poisonous gases that forced a school on the French Caribbean island of Martinique.
The amount -38 million tons -is the largest amount of algae observed in the Caribbean in western and eastern Atlantic and the Golf of Mexico, since scientists have been studying the great Atlantic -Sargassum in 2011, said Brian Barnes, a deputy research professor at the University of SOUTH Florida on Monday Reports were published on Monday.
The previous record was set up in June 2022 with around 22 million tons.
“The summit seems to be getting bigger and bigger every year,” he said.
But scientists don’t know why.
“It is the million dollar question,” he said. “I don’t have an extremely satisfactory answer.”
There are three different types of Sargassum in the Caribbean and nearby areas and reproduce asexual because they remain alive thanks to tiny air bags. Depending on sunlight, nutrients and water temperature, they thrive in different ways. Factors that scientists are currently investigating, said Barnes.
Experts have also announced that agricultural drainage, heating water and changes in wind, electricity and rain could have an effect.
While large lumps of algae in the open ocean the so -called barnes as a “healthy, happy ecosystem” for creatures that range from tiny shrimps to endangered sea turtles, called Sargassum near or on the shore.
The sunlight can block that coral reefs have to survive, and if the algae sinks, it can suffocate reefs and sea grass. As soon as it is reached on land, the creatures living in the algae die or are picked up by birds, said Barnes.
Huge bunch of stinking seatang also have headaches for the Caribbean, where tourism often generates a lot of money for small islands.
“It is a challenge, but it certainly doesn’t affect every inch of the Caribbean,” said Frank Comito, special consultant of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association.
At the popular tourist office of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, officials have invested in obstacles to prevent Sargassum from reaching the bank.
In the Dutch Caribbean territory of the Holy Maarten, the crews with bags were sent to the end of May as part of an emergency preparation after the residents were complained about strong smells of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, which could influence a person’s breathing system.
“The smell is pretty terrible,” said Barnes.
In the French Caribbean, the officials expect that they will soon be using camp sticks and an improved special ship that can collect several tons of seaweed per day.
The Sargassum “distorts our coast, prevents swimming and makes life impossible for residents,” the French Prime Minister François Bayrou recently told reporters.
Comito, however, said that such ships are “massively expensive” and not a popular option, and found that another option- with heavy equipment- is labor-intensive.
“You have to be careful because there could be affected sea turtle eggs,” he said. “It is not as if they go in there and they can hunt through and scratch the whole thing.”
Some Caribbean islands are fighting financially, so most of the cleaning up hotels are carried out. Some offer guests reimbursements or a free shuttle to beaches that are not affected.
Every year the amount of Sargassum expands in late spring, its peak in summer and begins to trace back in late autumn or early winter, said Barnes.
The new record set is hardly inpatient – experts said that they expect more Sargassum for June.
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