Florida’s First Coast could also be particularly nasty this summer. The Atlantic seaweed generally known as sargassum shall be coming ashore and could also be notably plentiful this 12 months.
Newest Replace on Seaweed State of affairs in Florida:
January 15, 2024: One other record blob of sargassum was measured within the Central Atlantic Ocean
College of South Florida scientists have reported a major improve in sargassum, a kind of seaweed, within the Central Atlantic, close to the Caribbean Sea. As of December 2023, the mass of sargassum reached practically 5 million metric tons, a considerable improve from the 1 million metric tons recorded on the identical time within the earlier 12 months.
This quantity units a brand new historic file for the area. Regardless of a 15% lower in Might 2023, which deviated from the 2022 file excessive of twenty-two million metric tons, researchers anticipate 2024 to be one other main 12 months for sargassum development.
Presently, the vast majority of this seaweed mass is situated about 500 miles east of the Caribbean Sea, with vital blooms additionally noticed close to Venezuela’s Orinoco River, affecting areas like Trinidad and Tobago and the southern Caribbean Sea.
REPORTS & UPDATES FROM SEAWEED SEASON 2023
July 18: Newest seaweed information and photographs from Florida
Final spring, Florida’s famend seashores confronted an unprecedented problem with the arrival of a large, foul-smelling seaweed mass generally known as the Nice Atlantic Sargassum Seaweed Belt.
Nonetheless, there’s excellent news as latest findings by scientists from the College of South Florida’s Optical Oceanography Lab point out that the seaweed belt within the Gulf of Mexico has considerably diminished, shrinking by an impressive 75% final month.
Newest updates and photographs capturing totally different areas throughout Florida. Turn out to be a member of our FB group, “Florida Sargassum Seaweed Updates,” and ask about particular areas of curiosity. Seashores are principally clear round Florida, seaweed is usually across the south and Key West.
June 1: Jupiter Canine Seaside
June 1: Panama Metropolis Seaside
Might 22: Newest photographs and studies from vacationers and locals in Florida
Listed here are just a few newest photographs and updates from totally different areas round Florida. Be a part of our group “Sargassum Seaweed Updates Florida” and ask about any specific space.
Might 22: Bahia Honda State Park Seaweed Report
Might 22: Panama Metropolis Seaside Seaweed Report
Might 21: Melbourne Seaside Seaweed Report
Might 16: Bal Harbour Seaside Seaweed Report
Might 1: Vacationers and Vacationers are reporting file arrivals of seaweed to Florida already
Exercise in our devoted FB reporting group “Sargassum Seaweed Updates Florida” has been growing with day by day updates of seaweed arrivals. A lot of the locations are already reporting file quantities forward of the height sargassum season.
Key West – Southernmost Level of the Continental USA (April 30)
What’s inflicting the seaweed drawback?
A 2020 examine, involving analysis from the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has linked the surge in sargassum within the tropical Atlantic Ocean to a shift within the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) round 2009-2010.
This modification led to stronger west and south winds, which dispersed sargassum from the Sargasso Sea into the tropical Atlantic, the place it obtained extra daylight and vitamins from ocean upwelling.
The longevity of this elevated sargassum presence is unsure, with NOAA’s Rick Lumpkin noting the potential for the same occasion occurring up to now, adopted by a decline of the Sargassum belt after a number of a long time.
What might be completed? These are doable different makes use of of sargassum heading to Florida, in response to a brand new startup
The surge of sargassum seaweed in latest instances has triggered companies to discover novel strategies of eliminating it, and its potential makes use of are already manifold.
Scientists and entrepreneurs aspire to remodel it into syrup, bricks, and conceivably even jet gas. Carbonwave, a corporation based mostly in Boston and Puerto Rico, is using it as a constituent in fertilizer, cosmetics, and even artificial leather-based.
