Sargassum algae piles up along Mexico's Punta Piedra beach. Costa Rica is a very beautiful place with lots of options. This makes it very hard to predict a month in advance. We had Hurricane Irma, we had COVID, we had the sargassum, and now Im pretty scared of global warming.. Water wasnt the beautiful blue near the shore but still a beautiful beach. The Biden administration declared a federal emergency after the U.S. Virgin Islands warned last month of "unusually high amounts" of sargassum affecting water production at a desalination plant near St. Croix that is struggling to meet demand amid a drought. 76 reviews 70 helpful votes 1. ( Reuters) In 2018, as seaweed piled up on beaches throughout the Caribbean, it . Hello Christy, there has been some saragassum seaweed in Pensacola in the past, notably Perdido Key. Glad you enjoyed your vacation and came back and even provided an answer. Generally, beaches exposed to an open easterly wind are susceptible to sargassum influx. We used to recommend Hawaii as well but the cost of a trip to Hawaii is becoming out of reach for the average traveler. Cayman Islands SEAWEED Problem [2023]: Everything You Need To Know! The eastern and south shorelines will inevitably be swamped. The west coast of Mexico is also a safe choice. Have they been affected? Fortunately it abated in the late summer, with our beaches looking lovely once more! If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Snorkeling wasnt impacted but the smell on the beach was terrible. The normally translucent waters around Pinel Island turned into a prickly brown slush. However, the UNDP project for improving national sargassum management capacities in the Caribbean, Barbados and four other countries will be provided with the equipment, expertise and technical knowledge to collect, remove, transport and dispose of the sargassum, the PS remarked. 7 reviews 8 helpful votes Seaweed at Sandals 7 years ago Save Hi Everyone, The seaweed situation at Sandals is awful. https://www.nationnews.com/2023/01/03/seaweed-back-shores/, Starting the Prompt Design Site: A New Home in our Stack Exchange Neighborhood, June 2023 photo competition: Road and water crossing. Bottom line: Roatan was Sargassum-free all along north shore. That being said, a quick scan at the beach cams right now is showing clear conditions. Id like to plan a trip that isnt as far or overpriced and hasnt been affected. Some island nations use heavy machinery to remove seaweed from the beach, but scientists warn that causes erosion and can destroy the nests of endangered turtles. Ive been to Barbados before and seen Crane Beach at its best so I guess I can cope with the disappointment if its not as stunning as I remember it, but its a first (and probably one-time only) visit for the rest of my family, so I was really hoping the influx wouldnt be too bad during our holiday. Ive been following this since spending waaaaay to much for Barbados because I was convinced it would be the best beach ever and we couldnt even go to the beach. Whats next? Joshua Forte, a local entrepreneur, is convinced that it can be turned into a valuable commodity, and turned into highly effective, organic compost. West coast beaches were mostlyunaffected, remaining with crystal-clear waters and pristine sandy shores. GDPR: Can a city request deletion of all personal data that uses a certain domain for logins? Crane Beach in St Philip has been invaded by ash and Sargassum seaweed. "They're essentially being smothered out," Krimsky said. Long Beach is covered with sargassum in Crest Church parish along the south coast of Barbados on July 27. In some cases, it will last a few weeks or even months and there really is no set sargassum season or accurate forecast to notify people about its migration in the same way hurricanes are tracked. Ill be checking in as our cruise gets closer in January 2019. We exprienced it in Barbados in February 2018 on the East coast and in Mexico (Mexican Riviera) in March/April 2018. What a disappointment!!! Hello Alison, Im not feeling hopeful about our trip this year but well make the most of it. But on Tuesday, the government announced it suspended the project, saying the seaweed had decomposed so much that it had rendered the pumping useless. How to cycle through set amount of numbers and loop using geometry nodes? By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. In the process of planning an impromptu vacation to the Caribbean, and read someones experience of the seasweed in a hotel review, and that prompted me to do some research. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. Sargassum Seaweed in the Caribbean: Will it ruin my beachvacation? The seaweed has trapped sea creatures that are dying in it and also attracts sand flies which can carry diseases so it should be avoided. ", I went seaweed foraging for the first time and hit the mother lode, How To Handle A Massive Seaweed Invasion? Good to see in your article that it is unaffected as is what my research also indicates. On Union Island, which is part of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the seaweed invasion has forced some resorts to close for up to five months in the past. July saw no decrease of algae in the Caribbean Sea, said Chuanmin Hu, an optical oceanography professor who helps produce the reports. This is the worst weve ever seen it for sure, said Melody Rouveure, general manager for a tour company in the Dutch Caribbean territory of St. Maarten, which shares an island with St. Martin. Ive had friends report seaweed as far as Panama right now so its hard to say which areas are not affected at all. Thank you for update Laura. We have spent most nights in our over-priced hotel room because of the smell and bugs due to the rotting grass. Thank you for this information ! This floating habitat provides food, refuge, and breeding grounds for an array of critters such as fishes, sea turtles, marine birds, crabs, shrimp, and more. by Chetan Patil. Attempts to use sargassum as fertilizer, food, biofuel, construction material or medicinal products continue, but many Caribbean islands are unable to remove the vast amounts of the seaweed because they are struggling financially and have limited resources. Thank you for the update. The Court of Appeal has quashed the court martial decision to dismiss former commissioned officer Lieutenant David Anthony 3rd floor, CGI towers, Warrens, St. Michael, Seaweed causing significant beach erosion. Since then, weve been hopeful the seaweed wouldnt return but it has every year in varying amounts and 2018 has seen record amounts of it wash up on Crane Beach on the east coast of Barbados, and other popular Caribbean destinations. Yucatn Towns Get Creative, In Hotter Climate, 'Zombie' Urchins Are Winning And Kelp Forests Are Losing, Masses Of Seaweed Threaten Fisheries And Foul Beaches, Heat Wave Killed An Estimated 1 Billion Sea Creatures, And Scientists Fear Even Worse. -Sad traveler. Some animals, like the Sargassum fish (in the frogfish family), live their whole lives only in this habitat. Maxine. So I need to avoid it. Mexican authorities will spend about $9.1m and hire 4,600 workers to clean up seaweed mounds accumulating along that country's Caribbean coast. I just returned from Grand Cayman. I have also heard that Bermuda is free of seaweed from numerous sources. Near-record amounts of seaweed are smothering Caribbean coasts from Puerto Rico to Barbados, killing fish and other wildlife, choking tourism and releasing stinky, noxious gases. Its a record high. Have a great trip! We were just in Mexico and while Playa Del Carmen was full of seaweed, there wasnt any on the west facing beaches in Cozumel. More than 24 million tons of sargassum blanketed the Atlantic in June, up from 18.8 million tons in May, according to a monthly report published by the University of South Florida's Optical Oceanography Lab that noted "a new historical record.". Other island nations have opted to use heavy machinery to remove seaweed from the beach, but scientists warn that causes erosion and could destroy the nests of endangered turtles. Tulum had good conditions in December 2020 to February 2021 but some days were bad and some spots more affected than others. Thanks for the update Mary! The beaches on the West Coast of Barbados and closer to Bridgetown were not affected. The ash from explosive eruptions of St Vincent's La Soufriere Volcano covers the walkway around the beach and coats the sand. I want a vacation redo but worried itll happen again. Experts warned that the region's annual spring bloom of Sargassuma free-floating brown macroalgae from the North Atlantic that suddenly appeared in large quantities in the tropics in 2011 was the densest observed in March since scientists began tracking . Will be in Barbados October 3thru 9th. (https://www.mexicanist.com/l/costa-rica-sargassum-seaweed/ ) Can you please clear up the discrepancy? Unfortunately it so thick and smelly, that the beaches were empty. Re: Seaweed problem? Hello Garry, Which part of the island are you staying on? Hi Cheryl, Does the Frequentist approach to forecasting ignore uncertainty in the parameter's value. Well, Im not an expert but I have walked in it and swam in waters that had it, and was fine albeit quite grossed out. A study published in July by the University of South Florida in the journal Science concluded that the seaweed problem, which started in 2001 and showed peaks in 2015 and 2018, is here to stay. Thanks for this article! Oswen Corbel, owner of Caribbean Paddling, said he had to close his St. Martin business on July 22 and doesnt expect to reopen until late October. Encountered large mats of it while snorkeling at the reef. This would probably explain why the all-inclusive vacation packages Im finding (Belize, Curacao, Montego Bay and Panama) are pretty cheap. I recommend staying in Holetown, St James around Discovery Bay, Mango Bay area. If you are there for a special event like a wedding and want to take photos on the beach, make sure your photographer can crop it out or airbrush it, which is what we had to do in 2015 in Barbados when we had our family photoshoot on Crane beach. Kofi Jones/AP It has berry-shaped pods filled with oxygen, enabling it to float. These satellite images show how the peak of the Sargassum bloom in July has grown exponentially since 2011. In May, a record 18 million metric tons were detected by satellite in the . Please send me an update if you think of it. And the record amounts reported in recent years are even more concerning for scientists and island governments. I hope you have a great cruise and dont encounter any or too much seaweed! The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has compiled experimental sargassum inundation reports (SIR) to predict the risk level of sargassum on various coastlines- the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean, the Floridian, the Antilles, and the Central and South American shores. We visited all areas of the island and in this video we will show . Thanks for the blog, I am providing a link for my guests. If you have any questions or suggestions about places to visit, let me know! In addition, places like Colombia have nice beaches on the coast, are a lot safer now and are up and coming on the tourist trail. Sargassum seaweed washes up . How bad is Puerto Rico for hurricanes in June? Sun, 03/28/2021 - 5:30am. In some cases, the seaweed piled up as high as 10 . Throughout the early monthsof 2015 and into the summer, beaches in Barbados, the Caribbean and Mexico were affected by the presence of excessive amounts ofSargassum seaweed. Did it ruin your vacation? 4 years ago Save Welcome to TA. . Can one be Catholic while believing in the past Catholic Church, but not the present? As mentioned above, the relentless arrival has steadily worn away precious beach land. Totally unpredicable when it arrives or leaves. ??? Thank you for the update. Cant wait to get home soon enough and start saving money for a real vacation. I love your article. From what I have seen and heard from friends there, the west coast beaches still remain free of any seaweed. But clearly this was an inconvenience to those guests, and a surprise to many of our repeat visitors who have never experienced this phenomenon before. Which areas are affected by sargassum seaweed and when? Pollutants such as nitrogen heavy fertilizers, sewage waste, and the 2010 BP oil spill disaster and clean-up. While its not very pleasant to look at, makes your skin itch when it brushes against you, and smells like sewage when it starts to rot, its actually an important habitat for marine life: Floating rafts ofSargassumcan stretch for miles across the ocean. Levels in the northern Caribbean are at their third highest, following July 2018 and July 2021, he said. In the next couple of months, I will be working on a project to help people find out about the seaweed and if you remember to, can you let me know if there was any seaweed during your visit? Report inappropriate content anniejc53 Halifax, United. Sorry to hear that Nikki! Sargassumserves as a primary nursery area for a variety of commercially important fishes such as mahi mahi, jacks, and amberjacks.. I realise theres a post running about seaweed but it's not up to date. On the East Coast beaches such as Cattlewash, the loss has been 15 meters of active beach space; Lakes in excess of 10 meters lost; Walkers Beach, 15 meters lost; Green Pond, 15 meters lost; Morgan Lewis in excess of 20 meters lost and River Bay in excess of 25 meters. A record amount of seaweed is smothering Caribbean coasts from Puerto Rico to Barbados as tons of brown algae kill wildlife, choke the tourism industry and release toxic gases, according to the. The west coast of Mexico (Cabo, Puerto Vallarta, Sayulita, Xuatulco, etc.) When does it stop or does it come all yr. Was there last October did not see any. We learned very early in our experience that the use of heavy machinery on the beaches to remove the sargassum also resulted in removing extensive amounts of beach sand thus contributing further to the beach erosion. Feel free to email me for pictures and videos. We will be at The Crane again in February and will report back. Any recommendations on where to stay/what airlines to fly from USA? In addition to ruining the pristine beaches people want to spend their vacations on, it also affects the livelihood of local people who cant fish like they usually do. Currently, it reaches over 5000 miles. I understand that the volume of seaweed deposits comes and goes with the tides and weather so the extent of the problem is hard to predict, but in general is Feb/Mar likely to be a bad time? Currently, there is flagship Blue Economy research at CERMES with key outputs including a sargassum outlook- a prediction bulletin which provides information on sargassum influx to the Eastern Caribbean at three monthly timescales, a guide to sargassum uses and several story maps to understand the scale of the sargassum problem, he said. Hello Bruce, So frustrated. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Tropical Storm Bret slams Caribbean with gusty winds, heavy rainfall Heres what travelers can expect, China is muscling into power across Americas underbelly, MSC cruise line makes NYC a permanent port to Bermuda and beyond, Dutch officials didnt try to prevent alleged serial killers extradition to US: Interpol. Our present mode of removal is the use of manpower ranging from 60 to over 100 persons in various teams depending on the influx. Gov. I've come all the way from London and I need some salt water , the sea looks (and smells ) like the River Thames. 8 years ago Save Just seen the forum below on seaweed so sorry to ask the same question. So heres my take on Dover beach today. Here is a list of the places that I have found news articles citing problems with sargassum seaweed: And the good news is that as of October 2020, the Optical Oceanography Laboratory at the University of South Florida is reporting less seaweed than previous years: While the monthly bulletins can be found at the bottom of this page, the amount of Sargassum decreased during the month of October 2020, showing a total Sargassum coverage of 12 km2as compared with a historical mean of 100 km2 between 2011 and 2017, for the area bounded by 8-23N and 89-58W. A record amount of seaweed is smothering Caribbean coasts from Puerto Rico to Barbados. The H2S odor is bad to really bad. Shifting of currents due to more intense hurricanes (also related to climate change). I have never been there but have heard lots of great things about Costa Rica so Im sure you will enjoy yourself. Values are compared against a 30-mile coastline radius and multiday baseline. He noted that the climate change issue is not anticipated to disappear from the region anytime soon. The hotel set up a free daily transfer for guests to a west coast beach a few miles away, where there were virtually no seaweed deposits. As of March 2023, a massive belt of sargassum seaweed was spotted from NASA satellites in space, increasing and moving toward Florida and the Caribbean. Belize Seaweed Problem [2023]: Everything You Need to Know! I will update my post with this information. Will you be making travel plans based on this years sargassum forecast? However, it could be a God-sent solution for the national economy. Experts first noted large amounts of sargassum in the Caribbean Sea in 2011 that Hu and other scientists think were created by stronger than normal winds and currents. There are three risk level categories- low (blue), medium (orange), and high (red). SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico A record amount of seaweed is smothering Caribbean coasts from Puerto Rico to Barbados as tons of brown algae kill wildlife, choke the tourism industry and release toxic gases. Turned into only a minor inconvenience. We just returned from Akumal ( east facing) Mexico last week. Do you know if Bermuda has been affected? Latex3 how to use content/value of predefined command in token list/string? Thank you Nita! I saw lots of light brown waves from the flight from Miami and wondered what it was. From January to September 2023, the east and south coastlines will inevitably experience moderate to high sargassum levels. Sargassum is a free-floating seaweed that accumulates in the mid-Atlantic Ocean and travels west. The first records of this brown algae are from sightings on Christopher Columbus' ships. Travel Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for road warriors and seasoned travelers. I was wondering if it is present on the Gulf side of Florida Pensacola area? We dont know if this is a new normal, Krimsky lamented. We had trouble sleeping a couple of nights. miles) many guests staying on the south coast chose to travel by car, bus or taxi to an alternative beach on the west coast, with Brownes Beach/Carlisle Bay being a particular favourite.
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