Sargassum on the sea and on beach at Cancun, Mexico
Sargassum disfigures the beach and sea in the Mexican resort of Cancun. This kind of floating seaweed can be found in all of the world’s temperate and tropical oceans. Early transatlantic sailors encountered it in the Sargassum Sea, an area in the mid-Atlantic that is almost the size of Australia. Sargassum plays an important role in the environment providing food and shelter for a number of species. Many species of eel hatch in the Saragosso Sea before migrating to European and North-eastern American waters. One animal, the sargassum fish, spends its entire life within the ecosystem. The area of sargassum grows in response to environmental triggers. One such is the iron and phosphorus rich sand that blows from the Sahara Desert. Another trigger is man-made: agricultural fertiliser washed out to sea by the River Amazon in Brazil. Ocean currents transport it north. One to two years after nitrogen-laden water from the Amazon enters the Atlantic there is a massive growth of sargassum in the Caribbean. The problem has been particularly severe since 2011. That year saw a 200-fold increase in the amount of sargassum compared to previous years. Since then increasingly strong sargassum inundation events have become the norm Sargassum deposits on tourist beaches now appear every year. Once deposited onto the coast sargassum decomposes and that causes health problems for humans and other animals. It emits hydrogen sulfide gas, usually associated with rotten eggs, together with ammonia. Once inhaled it causes heart palpitations , dizziness, vertigo, headaches, shortness of breath and skin rashes. During the major sargassum event of 2018 over 11,00 causes of sargassum toxicity were reported on the islands of Guadalupe and Martinique.
Size: 3599px × 4869px
Location: Hotel Zone, Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Photo credit: © Frank Nowikowski / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: arlantic, atlantic, beach, beaches, cancun, carobbean, change, climate, gulfweed, impact, mexico, nutrients, ocean, quintana, roo, sargassum, sea, seaweed, vacation, warming, water
