Good News, Florida. The Giant Seaweed Blob Has Shrunk.

But scientists don’t know why the decline was so fast. One concept is that robust winds attributable to current tropical storms might have dissipated the sargassum into smaller clumps, or sunk it to the ocean flooring, Dr. Hu stated, making it onerous to see from a satellite tv for pc. “There could be other reasons, we just don’t know,” he added.

While floating sargassum can profit marine animals by offering shade and shelter, it begins to die as soon as it comes ashore, degrading water high quality and polluting seashores, scientists say. The decaying algae additionally releases hydrogen sulfide, a colorless fuel that smells like rotten eggs, and may trigger respiratory issues in people. Some varieties of micro organism might colonize rafts of sargassum and marine plastics, which, as soon as ashore, can pose a threat to public well being, based on a current examine revealed by researchers from Florida Atlantic University.

Sarah Collier, who works for Seabird Key, a non-public island trip rental in Key West, stated that her group had been on edge since listening to of the sargassum blob earlier this 12 months. “It’s such a relief,” she stated of news that it was dissipating within the Gulf of Mexico, noting that she had not personally seen extra seaweed than typical.

But whereas tour operators, holidaymakers and locals in Florida are having fun with sargassum-free seashores, the scenario just isn’t as rosy additional south.

The seashores of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, the Lesser Antilles Islands, Barbados and Trinidad, will seemingly stay threatened by seaweed for the following one to 2 months, Dr. Hu stated.

He and his colleagues predict that over the following two to 3 months, the quantity of sargassum within the Gulf of Mexico will stay minimal, and that it’ll both lower or stay secure within the Caribbean Sea. While that’s good news for the residents of Florida’s east coast, in addition to the Florida Keys, sargassum continues to be more likely to wash ashore in elements of the Caribbean, they stated within the bulletin, noting that it was “difficult to predict exact timing and location for individual beaching events.”