sargassum destin florida 2023

We know that climate change is warming ocean waters, and Sargassum grows faster in warmer water. In Miami-Dade County, sargassum is either spread out with mechanized beach rakes or removed with front-end loaders. Seaweed masses: Heading to the beach? "We are still one to two months away. Many can occur naturallyand can havepositive effects. All Rights Reserved, Okaloosa County Public Information Office, Okaloosa County to remove 3 derelict vessels from Boggy Bayou, Choctawhatchee Bay, and Cinco Bayou, Okaloosa deploys 46 new Prefabricated Artificial Reef modules off the coast of Destin-Fort Walton Beach, New Red Snapper Fishing Tournament to benefit Okaloosa Countys Artificial Reef Program, Record-breaking 24,699 lionfish removed during 2023 Emerald Coast Open Lionfish Tournament, UPDATE: Former NFL and Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett identified as drowning victim in Destin, Phil Dorn bids farewell as Athletic Director at Destin High School, Fortunately, Red Tide and Sargassum are not something that significantly impacts our area compared to other parts of Florida, says Fogg. However, the good news is that the area is currently in the clear. "Increasing sargassum blooms are good for the ocean ecosystem, but pretty bad for some local residents," Hu said. a 5,000-mile swath of sargassum drifts westward, Subscribe to the weekly Climate Point newsletter, Latest climate change news from USA TODAY, The algal blooms are linked to human activities, the starving deaths of hundreds of manatees, a group of international researchers in a coastal phytoplankton studypublished this month in the journal Nature, Huge seaweed blob on way to Florida is 'like a Stephen King movie'. Ten endemic species live nowhere else on Earth. The rakes groom the beaches and pick up trash but are unable to remove a surplus of sargassum, Fogg said. A harmful algal bloom or HABs are blooms that result in negative impacts to wildlife, people, and economics (Smyth et al. A correlation in some regions between changes in sea surface temperatures and ocean circulation. Miami-Dade Parks reminds beachgoers it's sargassum (seaweed) season In open areas like beaches, however, moving air usually dilutes the gas to non-harmful levels. Mats of it form the sole spawning grounds for European and American eels and habitat for some 43 other threatened or endangered species. It offers food, hiding spots and breeding grounds for a vast array of crabs, shrimp and other invertebrates and over a hundred species of fish. We just dont know, he said. While climate change is warming ocean waters, and sargassum grows faster in warmer water, I believe it's more plausible that the cause is a drastic increase in agricultural activity in the Brazilian Amazon. Under the HAB criteria, sargassum wreaks havoc. This impacted the Florida Keys and Floridas marine coasts. You can spend hours looking at the collection of critters that it contains. 0:00. University of Florida Electronic Information Data Source. The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. Here's how to protect turtles and hatchlings. It is not harmful or toxic, except it can be sort of uncomfortable if swimming in it. Sargassum seaweed on Florida beaches: Latest reports For more on the MSRI, visit ju.edu/msri. In fact, in 2003,Sargassumwas designated as Essential Fish Habitat within the U.S. The belt stretches across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to Florida and the Yucatan Peninsula and is as much as 200 to 300 miles wide. LaPointe, who has studied sargassum for four decades, told the news outlet that beaches in Key West are already being covered with the algae, despite the piles usually washing ashore in May. Cheryl McCloud Florida Today 0:00 0:33 Substantial s argassum is expected in June in both the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, according to the May report from the University of South Florida.. This is an update of an article published Aug. 2, 2021. The towers are 150 feet high and are cement silos. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. And while theres a lot of sargassum seaweed floating out there, experts say its only covering 0.1% of the ocean. Sargassum is a tannish-brown species of macroalgae, also known as seaweed. Sargassum has a valuable ecological role at sea, but on beaches it's an expensive nuisance that threatens tourism. Sargassum FAQ | NOAA CoastWatch Algal-bloom-favorable seasons in temperate seas have increased with warmer temperatures. Its very much a natural-occurring thing, Fogg said Thursday,adding that the current accumulations of it on local beaches pale in comparison to those in South Florida and the Caribbean. By Elena Shao April 19, 2023 321 Scientists say they spotted more than 13 million tons of Sargassum, a yellowish-brown seaweed, drifting in the Atlantic Ocean last month a record for the. Beachgoers in Florida and the Caribbean could be greeted by heavy blankets of smelly seaweed in the weeks ahead as a 5,000-mile swath of sargassum drifts westward and piles onto white . Like sargassum, June grass doesnt look great onshore but its not harmful to humans and provides habitat for various creatures, he said. Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct amount of projected seaweed per USF. A satellite image shows a mileslong raft of sargassum a tangled, buoyant mass of seaweed off the coast of Key Largo, Fla. University of South Florida Optical Oceanography Laboratory . Reefs in Florida and the Caribbean are under many other stresses, including ocean warming and coral bleaching, so they are already highly vulnerable. While some areas are already seeing the sargassum come ashore, the bulk of it is expected to . Waves filled with sargassum continue washing up on beaches in the Caribbean Sea and southern Florida and the stacks of seaweed are expected to get worse in the weeks ahead. Whether individual beaches will receive more in a month than other months will depend on the tides and the winds.". It has appeared on many of the Caribbean island beaches and is starting to appear on Florida beaches now. 2015. That nutrient-rich water from the Amazon River flows into the Caribbean Sea. Atlantic sargassum belt carrying massive seaweed toward Florida - UPI When it dies, it sinks to the sea floor, providing nutrients to deep-sea ecosystems. 2023 , Get The Coast LLC. But not everywhere. This year, sargassum has washed ashore along Okaloosa County and other parts of the Panhandle in greater amounts than in recent years, Fogg said. mesurer votre utilisation de nos sites et applications. Updates on sargassum growth and where the massive blob is located are provided every month, and patches of the seaweed are riding the waves onto shore along the Florida Keys, but its now washing up on shore along Floridas east coast. Thu 16 Mar 2023 12.37 EDT Last modified on Thu 16 Mar 2023 12.38 EDT It's brown, it weighs millions of tons, it stretches over 5,000 miles and it is headed for Florida's beaches. The giant sargassum blobs piling up on the Florida coast might harbor flesh-eating bacteria. County workers clean beaches on and near Okaloosa Island and in and near Destin every day using machine-pulled rakes. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. The 2023 sargassum seaweed forecast is looking pretty bleak what started invading Florida beaches this week has spread across the Atlantic. Science, 365 p. 83-87. https://waterlust.com/blogs/the-waterlust-blog/sea-sun-sand-sargassum, University of South Florida, March 31, 2023 Sargassum Outlook Bulletin: https://optics.marine.usf.edu/projects/SaWS/pdf/Sargassum_outlook_2023_bulletin3_USF.pdf, by Ana Zangroniz The seaweed has existed for centuries, but climate change and inflows of nitrogen and man-made fertilizer from rivers have caused. The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt extends from west Africa to the Gulf of Mexico and is setting a record 13 million tons for this time of year. Posted: April 20, 2023. Hu said 2023 will be another major sargassum year, possibly surpassing 2022. . By Lizzy Rosenberg Mar. PDF Outlook of 2023 Sargassum blooms in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Featured image from iNaturalist user kruskaya_024 (CC-BY-NC 4.0). Rather than beaches, it's bounded by rotating ocean currents that form the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre. One study in 2019 suggested that deforestation and fertilizer use may be responsible for the alarming rate at which the mass is growing the effects of which are all exacerbated by climate change. A sargassum bloom floats between the Gulf of Mexico and West Africa. Sargassum is an amazing brown algae that has fascinated marine scientists for decades. Experts say this year's bloom is particularly alarming, according to reporting by Denise Chow for NBC News published Saturday. 2023, 12:00 PM UTC . On land, sargassum begins to rot andproduces smellyhydrogen sulfide and ammonia, which can irritate eyes, ears, and noses. What can plausibly explain the sudden increase in this floating seaweed since 2011 -- the first time that large aggregations of sargassum were detected from space? This year the amount of algae is overwhelming. As the sargassum and the organisms living in it begin to decompose, hydrogen sulfide (a rotten egg smell) is released (Dierssen et al. "It's a complex picture. These nutrients are key ingredients in fertilizer, and also are present in animal manure. "Were seeing such massive blooms now.". Fogg said county officials have received a number of calls in recent weeks from beachgoers who expressed concern about the accumulated sargassum. The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt the official name for the collection of floating brown seaweed that sprawls across 5,000 miles from the Gulf of Mexico to the west coast of Africa contained about 13 million tons of seaweed by the end of March, according to researchers at the University of South Florida's Optical Oceanography Lab who have be. ET Source: Teresa Wood/Coral.Org Owners and/or managers of condominiums, hotels and other beachfront properties who want to remove sargassum from the beach next to their buildings are free to do so by hand, which doesnt require a permit, he said.

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