Authorities on Mexico’s Caribbean coast are battling an “alarming” invasion of foul-smelling brown seaweed that has been gathering on the region’s beaches.
The seaweed known as sargassum is washing up on the shores of white-sand beaches, just as post-pandemic tourists are beginning to return to the country, according to a report from ABC News.
“We can say that the current situation is alarming,” said Marine Minister José Ojeda, who directs operations to collect sargassum at sea before it reaches the beaches.
The Navy currently has 11 sargassum collection boats in the Caribbean.
So much seaweed reaches the beaches that hotels and local authorities are reportedly using bulldozers and excavators to collect the seaweed-like plant.
The big machines also pick up sand and contribute to beach erosion, said Rosa Rodríguez Martínez, a biologist in the coastal city of Puerto Morelos who studies reefs and coastal ecosystems for Mexico’s National Autonomous University.
The Mexican Navy has 11 sargassum collection boats in the Caribbean. ZUMAPRESS.com
Experts fear Sargassum concentrations could be the highest since records were made in 2018. EPA
“There’s so much sargassum that you can’t use small equipment anymore, you have to use the heavy stuff and when the excavators come they remove more sand,” she told the news outlet.
Experts fear the current Sargassum accumulation could surpass 2018 records.