As “normalcy” and beauty gradually return to the beaches of the Mexican Caribbean, the coasts of Puerto Rico, the Lesser Antilles and the Dominican Republic are experiencing their worst sargassum days.
According to hydrobiologist Esteban Amaro, director of the Quintana Roo Sargassum Monitoring NetworkLast month it was reported that a large mass of sargassum was drifting north, and today, a month later (July 15), the trend has been confirmed.
As of today, “sargassum is on its way to the Lesser and Greater Antilles. It also has a huge impact on the coasts of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic,” he said.
This translates into the Mexican Caribbean with a sargassum-free summer. The same phenomenon was observed last year when sargassum moved away from Mexican coasts as summer approached.
It’s not magic. That’s happening because rising temperatures are changing ocean currents, experts say.
“We won’t have sargassum at least until the end of the year. That means we won’t see sargassum for another six or seven months. However, it is possible that we will have an early arrival around January or February in 2025 with a peak in April or May.” the expert predicted.
The University of South Florida reports similar observations.
According to satellite photos released by this institution, the area around the Lesser Antilles has seen an increase in sargassum in recent weeks.
“Although a slight increase in sargassum abundance was found in the eastern Caribbean Sea, the western Caribbean Sea experienced a significant reduction in sargassum abundance.”
“Sargassum abundance decreased in June, with the most relative decreases in the western Caribbean Sea and eastern Atlantic Ocean. The total quantity of sargassum in all regions combined increased slightly to 10.5 million tonnes, exceeding the 75th percentile of historical levels for June.” reads the official monitoring website.
Provisional, the seaweed situation in the Dominican Republic does not look good.
According to members of our FB group, Dominican Republic Sargassum Seaweed Reportmost beaches in this country are currently covered in tons of sargassum.
“I have been in the area of Bavaro (El Cortecito) since Thursday and have walked at least a few kilometers along the coast from my area – it was quite difficult to find places in the sea that were not filled with carpets of sargassum (the water is black and thick with grass in these areas), or also with a thick pile of water on the beach,” reported an anonymous commenter on June 22. They clarify that there are indeed a “few spots” where you can swim.
When visiting the popular Gran Bávaro beach, Chantale R. found a similar landscape.
“Today in the Grand Bávaro Princess [there was] sargassum everywhere. Rugs and carpets from sargassum. Not swimmable. I hope tomorrow will be better,” the beachgoer said on June 22.
The 2024 sargassum season was particularly tough in the Mexican Caribbean in the early months of the year. Other destinations suffering from sargassum invasions include Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Florida, to a lesser extent.
although it is possible to observe a large blob of algae heading towards the Dominican Republic, the University of South Florida predicts landings will decline in the coming months.
‘Flooding in Sargassum will improve in almost all regions in the coming months’ they concluded.