MBNA Beach and Water Quality Working Group Members:
  • Chair: Oscar Vazquez
  • Projects include:  Sargassum, Beach Re-Nourishment, Beach Concessions
  • Members:  Esteban Porcelli, Charlotte Tomic, Jose Flores, Alex Penelas,  Lina Blanco, and Alicia A. Casanova
SARGASSUM
Sargassum, also often referred to as seaweed, is a naturally occurring seaweed that floats freely on the ocean surface and is abundant in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. It provides crucial habitat for many marine species, including endangered sea turtles, which, upon hatching on our beaches, make their way out to the sargassum to spend their juvenile years feeding and growing amongst the seaweed mats. It is also an important element in shoreline stability. Sargassum also provides nutrients to the shoreline and can replenish areas that suffer beach erosion due to hurricanes and storms, thereby helping to keep our shorelines resilient.
​
Over the past several years, South Florida and the Caribbean have experienced high levels of sargassum in coastal waters and on local beaches. Excessive amounts of sargassum in populated areas are causing concern worldwide.
Maintaining our beautiful beaches remains a priority for Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department. During Sargassum season clean-up crews operate on a daily basis to remove the buildup of seaweed on the water line. Below are frequently asked questions on sargassum, for your information.
MBNA's SARGASSUM ACCUMULATION CONCERNS
On Tuesday, April 18, 2023, at 5:00 p.m.,  MBNA Members met virtually on Zoom with Miami-Dade Mayor Daniela Levine Cava, City of Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber, and other County Officials, to address the current situation regarding the influx of Sargassum in our beaches.  Oscar Vazquez, our Beach & Water Quality Working Group Chair, and Anamarie Ferreira de Melo, our MBNA President, both gave presentations and stated some of our concerns, suggestions and Questions.  The MBNA be following up with both City and County Officials in our efforts to improve this situation.  Below are the MBNA's suggestions, concerns and questions:
Sargassum (Seaweed) 
The MBNA is extremely concerned with the ongoing Sargassum that affects the quality of our beaches.
Sargassum arriving in the Mid Beach area has been increasing since 2011. 

​Already under attack from erosion and rising seas, South Florida beaches are facing a new crisis: the invasion of Sargassum seaweed.  Washing ashore in increasingly alarming amounts, Sargassum is coating coastlines over much of the state.   “Sargassum is a good thing,” Dr. Brian Lapointe of Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute said. “It’s fish factory when it’s offshore, but when it comes ashore in excessive amounts, it becomes problematic.  Lapointe has been monitoring this floating seaweed for decades, using satellites to track the 5,500-mile-long Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt. Stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to West Africa, the Belt is home to more than 20 million tons of Sargassum in this recent bloom. “Since 2011, we have seen this ramping up, up and away," Lapointe said.  Sargassum in the open water or even on our beaches is nothing new. 

The chart below from the University of South Florida Optical Oceanography Lab (USFOOL) shows the change in Sargassum flow captured entering the Central West Atlantic. Some of this flow of sargassum ends up on our shores.  The USF Lab estimates that “considering the historical record-high levels of Sargassum in June 2022, more Sargassum may enter the CS (Caribbean Sea) and the GoM (Gulf of Mexico) in the following months following major ocean currents.”

The MBNA has been in communication with City and County Officials to monitor and stay informed of what is being done to prevent these situations from escalating again.
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  [email protected]
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:
Sargassum on weekend of March 24-26, 2023 from 28th to 29th Street. 
Sargassum on April 5, 2023:
Beachfront Concessions. 
​For detailed information and Applications, please go to our Beachside Concessions page.
BEACH RE-NOURISHMENT
BEACH & WATER QUALITY WORKING GROUP MEETING NOTES (10/19/22)
MORE INFORMATION ON SARGASSUM:
BEACH & WATER QUALITY WORKING GROUP MEETING (7/27/22)
On Wednesday, July 27, 2022, a "Beach & Water Quality Working Group" meeting took place via Zoom.  Oscar Vazquez, our WG Chair, coordinated the meeting in an effort to have the City and State prioritize finding a short term solution to this problem which continues to increase and seriously affect our beaches, especially in the MidBeach areas.  Thank you to Gabriella Gonzalez, the MidBeach Neighborhood Affairs Coordinator, and Samantha Tiffany, the City of Miami Beach's Environmental Resource Manager, for attending the meeting and listening to our concerns.  
The "blanket" of Sargassum as seen between 27th and 29th Street: 
April, 2021:

Email: [email protected]

Midbeach neighborhood association, inc.