Sargassum season is back in South Florida. Not all beachgoers mind
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Beachgoers play in the ocean off Miami Beach as brown seaweed washes ashore on June 10. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
On Hollywood Beach Tuesday afternoon, the ocean was full of brown sargassum and the smell of the seaweed wafted along the Broadwalk.
Why it matters: The annual sargassum season may surprise tourists expecting white sand and clear water.
What they're saying: "The sargassum situation is currently quite bad in South Florida," said Brian Barnes, research assistant professor at the University of South Florida's College of Marine Science.
- "The near future does not look much better," he said, adding that the wind and currents will likely lead to additional accumulations along the shore.
- In May, USF's Optical Oceanography Laboratory recorded record-high sargassum levels across much of the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf waters.
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a satellite tool that estimates Florida's Southeast coastline currently has a "high" risk of sargassum washing ashore.
Catch up quick: Sargassum used to be primarily found in the west North Atlantic, but since 2011 its range has expanded into the Caribbean Sea, tropical Atlantic and the Gulf, per NOAA.
- Out at sea, sargassum provides habitat, food and breeding grounds for marine life.
- When it washes up in large quantities, it can "smother valuable corals, seagrass beds and beaches," per NOAA. It also smells of rotten eggs when it dries on shore, which can impact tourism and cause respiratory issues.
Zoom in: Miami-Dade County wrote on Instagram that "sargassum levels are unusually high across South Florida this season, impacting beaches throughout the region."
- The county, which maintains 17 miles of shoreline, works daily to remove seaweed while protecting sea turtle nesting areas.
Friction point: Trish Currin, a tourist visiting Fort Lauderdale Beach from Austin, told CBS Miami that her husband didn't want to come to the beach because of the seaweed.
- "It's kind of like a musty, rotting smell," she said.
The other side: Hollywood Beach resident Alexis Zamora tells Axios he doesn't mind the seaweed and didn't believe it was keeping any tourists away.
- "It's no big deal," he said.
What's next: USF predicts that seaweed accumulation is likely to increase in June.