This year has seen ocean temperature in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans set record levels with select areas reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit. This increase is causing flora and fauna in both oceans to change traditional patterns and none more so that the great bloom of Sargassum in the Atlantic.
Up until 2011, the Atlantic Sargassum bloom was mainly confined to the Sargasso Sea in the middle of the North Atlantic. Small patches of the weed would break off and float into the trade winds that blew them west. But these were occasional patches and few and far between
Starting in 2011 scientists and observers began to see a different phenomenon. Sagassum began forming south of the Sargasso Sea and even south of the Equator. These patches have grown year after year and now annually form a band that stretches f5,000 miles rom Africa to the Caribbean and the US East Coast.
At sea, the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt presents a hazard to mariners as the algae can clog cooling water intakes and even snag propellers and prop shafts. But it’s when the weed blows ashore in the Caribbean, Mexico, Florida Keys and the east coast of the US that it becomes a real environmental and lifestyle issue.
As it deteriorate on our beaches, it gives off toxic chemicals include hydrogen sulfide, the chemical that smells like rotten eggs and makes your eyes and throat burn.
This year, the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt been estimated to contain 30 million metric tons of the algae and that is steadily being blown westward toward North America. That is a number that is hard to conceive but it certainly augers badly for the future.
What can we do with all of this rotting algae? The answer is that researchers are working on the issue and have come up with a number of solutions all of which require fresh water. Sargassum can be rinsed of ocean salt and then transformed into bio fertilizers.
Researchers are also working on systems to combine Sargassum with limestone to create low-cost bricks for construction and pavers. Plus, the chemicals in the weed can be used to create bio-based plastics that may replace petroleum-based compounds.
The Atlantic Ocean has been changed dramatically by the development of the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt and we as boat owners, cruisers and beach lovers need remain alert to the hazard. And, those ashore have an even bigger mountain to climb, a 30 million metric ton mountain.
