Coming soon to Florida beaches: Massive, messy and maybe record mounds of seaweed
Link to article in the Miami Herald - May 14, 2023 BY NICOLAS RIVERO NRIVERO@MIAMIHERALD.COM
A giant blob of seaweed, spanning 5,000 miles and weighing an estimated 6.1 million tons, threatens to blanket Florida beaches and Caribbean islands with smelly piles of decaying brown goop. Sargassum — the scientific name for the brown seaweed often found strewn across South Florida beaches — could start piling up in the Florida Keys in the next few days. Scientists expect Miami Beach to become a hot spot later in the sargassum season, which runs from March through October. This year’s sargassum bloom is shaping up to be one of the biggest ever recorded. Since 2011, a combination of human activity and climate change has created a string of unusually large seaweed blobs. Every year for the past five years has set a new record for the biggest blob ever. Miami-Dade County has identified four seaweed hot spots: beaches in Haulover just north of Haulover Cut; beaches in Bal Harbour just south of Haulover Cut; Miami Beach between 26th Street and 31st Street; and the beaches alongside the South Pointe jetty. |
New York Times Article from March 14, 2023:
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