THE GREAT SARGASSUM BELT

By: Capt. Angelia Swanson

Last month in my Mahi article, I mentioned the dreaded Sargassum that we keep hearing about. Sargassum is actually a catch-all term for over 300 different types of naturally occurring brown algae and it is a vital part of our ocean’s ecosystem. When adrift at sea it provides food and protection for fish, mammals, marine birds, and many others, although in the extremely large amounts we are seeing this year it can be a problem. It actually removes the oxygen from the water much like Florida’s Red Tide and can be very harmful for everything in the oceans including our precious coral reef. I mentioned last month that this Sargassum has grown a hundred-fold in just the last decade and this year it has grown exponentially, with scientists even calling it The Great Sargassum Belt. This patch of sargassum is now over 5,000 miles long and estimated to be over three million tons. That is pretty hard to wrap your head around! It even set a record for the most Sargassum in the Caribbean Sea in the month of April than ever before.

The most talked about problem with this immense amount of Sargassum is it coming up on the beaches during our busy tourist months. As it dries out and dies on beaches it lets off a foul odor and even has been said to cause respiratory problems for beachgoers as it lets off hydrogen sulfide gas, and interesting enough, the tissues of the Sargassum contain high levels of arsenic. It has been reported that right now in Barbados it is piling up on their beaches five to six feet high and they are requiring 1,600 dump trucks a day just to haul it off and that is yet another staggering number to wrap your head around!

As an offshore troller, I am very used to keeping my trolling lines free of Sargassum during this time of year, but that has become much more challenging these days! We are already seeing much more Sargassum along our island chain than usual and it is a constant workout continually cleaning lines all day. We have some brilliant scientists who are coming up with amazing ways to deal with this problem. They are using nets to collect it in some areas in the Caribbean and that is working well. In doing research for this article my favorite solution is happening in Martinique where a man named Laurent Brousseau has designed a boat to remove the Sargassum from the water after containing it with a boom much like they do with oil spills.

This Sargassum issue is already affecting our Keys as I’m seeing reports of it floating up in large patches in Marathon and Key West, but we are the Keys and we are KEYS STRONG!! We work together and overcome. And we are blessed to have some of the best conservation groups, scientists, and marine biologists in the world. And for passionate trolling anglers like myself, we just work a little harder for our catches this year.

— Come out fishing with me by contacting me at: floridasaltycowgirl.com | 813-610-0078 www.theknottydawg.com

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The Knotty Dawg is an apparel and dog accessory company that gives back to animal shelters and rescues in need. Owners Samantha and Kevin Mesa mixed the love of their lifestyle, dogs, and charity to create relatable and meaningful products. The brand is dedicated to and inspired by the couple's two pups, Beau and Buddy. Both rescued from local shelters. With thousands of amazing dogs in shelters, Samantha and Kevin want to use their brand to not only share their dogs' stories but also to inspire and educate people about adoption.

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