Sargassum: The seaweed deluge hitting Caribbean shores

Error message

  • Warning: ini_set(): Headers already sent. You cannot change the session module's ini settings at this time in drupal_environment_initialize() (line 695 of /home4/tassusac/public_html/marineagronomy/includes/bootstrap.inc).
  • Warning: ini_set(): Headers already sent. You cannot change the session module's ini settings at this time in drupal_environment_initialize() (line 696 of /home4/tassusac/public_html/marineagronomy/includes/bootstrap.inc).
  • Warning: ini_set(): Headers already sent. You cannot change the session module's ini settings at this time in drupal_environment_initialize() (line 697 of /home4/tassusac/public_html/marineagronomy/includes/bootstrap.inc).
  • Warning: ini_set(): Headers already sent. You cannot change the session module's ini settings at this time in drupal_environment_initialize() (line 700 of /home4/tassusac/public_html/marineagronomy/includes/bootstrap.inc).
  • Warning: ini_set(): Headers already sent. You cannot change the session module's ini settings at this time in drupal_environment_initialize() (line 702 of /home4/tassusac/public_html/marineagronomy/includes/bootstrap.inc).
Abstract: 

When waves of sargassum - a type of seaweed - washed up on Eastern Caribbean shores seven years ago, people hoped it was a one-off. Matted piles swamped coastlines from Tobago to Anguilla.

"In 2011 it was the first time we'd seen it," says Professor Hazel Oxenford, an expert in fisheries biology and management at the University of the West Indies.

"It came as a complete shock and no-one had a clue what to do with it."

Three years later the seaweed returned, in larger quantities. Over several months, it made its way through the Caribbean to southern Mexico, where its impact on Cancun's beaches made international headlines.

Now it is happening again and everything suggests 2018 could be the worst year yet.

Author(s): 
Philippa Fogarty
Link / Ref: 
BBC
Attachment: 
PDF icon Sargassum_ The seaweed deluge hitting Caribbean shores - BBC News.pdf
Article Source: 
BBC
Category: 
Geography
Seaweed composition