Sargassum is a naturally occurring brown seagrass that floats in the Atlantic Ocean and washes up on Florida beaches every year. They come from an extensive belt located in the Tropical Atlantic from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico.
Once it reaches the coast, and stays there for days, it begins to decompose and a very unpleasant smell like a rotten egg invades the place. This drives tourists and residents away from our beaches, since for some it is unpleasant to bathe and enjoy the sea in these conditions.
This situation has become a problem in recent years, due to the increase in their number. Researchers and scientists from the University of South Florida (USF) have observed and warned local authorities about this increase.
Although the causes are not fully known, researchers have linked an increase in temperature and nutrients in the sea to the increase in these algae on our coasts.
In an effort to keep our beaches clean, the city of Miami Beach began burying these weeds in the sand, to prevent odors on the beaches.
This caused even bigger problems when they realized that the gases released by the decomposing sargassum seriously affected the ecosystem of the local beaches.
Consequently, Miami Beach, in conjunction with Miami-Dade County, has had to allocate funds to remove from the sand the large concentrations of these algae that reach our beaches.
The Fort Lauderdale government has created another plan by harvesting the algae and taking it to an open space where it is allowed to mature for 90 days and becomes rich soil, which is then used in planting projects around the city.
These are the places in Miami Beach where there is sargassum:
- North of Haulover Channel (600 feet)
- South of Haulover Channel (800 feet)
- Miami Beach between 26th and 32nd streets (2,300 feet)
- South Beach (600 pies)