A research team tracked and studied floating sargassum in order to unlock its potential to be used to produce sustainable products.
Secrets of sargassum: Scientists advance knowledge of seaweed causing chaos in the Caribbean and West Africa
First reported by Christopher Columbus in the 15th century, floating mats of sargassum have long been present in the North Atlantic. However, since 2011, a floating population has established between West Africa and South America, and increased in size to form"the great Atlantic sargassum belt" -- a 9,000km-long macroalgal bloom, visible from space and estimated to weigh 35 million tons.
First author of the study Dr Carla Machado, a research associate in the Department of Biology, said:"The small quantities of sargassum that used to wash ashore in the Caribbean provided a habitat for turtles, crabs and fish and contributed to beach formation as it decomposed, but the vast sargassum blooms of the past decade are a global problem that will continue to grow and have a major impact in the affected countries.
The researchers collected samples of sargassum in Jamaica throughout 2021, which coincided with the April 2021 eruption of La Soufrière on the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent. "With the great sargassum belt also receiving additional nutrients from Sahara dust that blows across the Atlantic, huge quantities of the seaweed washing up on coastlines looks set to become the new normal."
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