While “normalcy” and beauty are slowly returning to Mexico’s Caribbean beaches, the shores of Puerto Rico, the Lesser Antilles and the Dominican Republic are suffering the worst from the Sargassum infestation.
According to aquatic biologist Esteban Amaro, director of the Sargassum Monitoring Network in Quintana Roo state, large amounts of the algae were reported to be flowing north last month, and today (July 15), a month later, the trend has been confirmed.
“As of today, the sargassum is heading toward the Lesser and Greater Antilles. It’s also heavily impacting the coasts of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic,” he said.
This means a sargassum-free summer in the Mexican Caribbean, a phenomenon observed last year when sargassum migrated off the Mexican coast as summer approached.
It’s not magic: Experts say it happens because rising temperatures change ocean currents.
“We won’t see any sargassum until at least the end of this year, which means we won’t see any for another six to seven months. But it’s possible that they could appear as early as January or February 2025, peaking in April or May,” the expert predicted.
The University of South Florida reported similar observations.
Satellite images released by the institute show that sargassum has been increasing around the Lesser Antilles in recent weeks.
“The eastern Caribbean saw a slight increase in Sargassum abundance, while the western Caribbean saw a large decline in Sargassum abundance.”
“Sargassum abundance decreased in June, with the largest declines in the Western Caribbean and Eastern Atlantic. Total Sargassum abundance for all regions combined increased slightly to 10.5 million tonnes, above the 75th percentile of all-time June levels,” the official monitoring website said.
For now, the seaweed situation in the Dominican Republic is not looking good.
According to members of our FB group “Dominican Republic Sargassum Seaweed Report”, most of the country’s beaches are now covered in tons of Sargassum.
“I’ve been in the Bavaro (El Cortecito) area since Thursday and have walked at least several miles along the coast from my area and it’s pretty hard to find a part of the ocean that isn’t covered in a carpet of sargassum (the water in this area is murky black with grass) or has thick deposits of sargassum on the beach as well,” an anonymous commenter reported on June 22. The commenter clarified that there are indeed “several” places to swim.
Chantale R. found a similar scene when visiting the popular beach Gran Bavaro.
“Today on the Grand Bavaro Princess there was a blanket of sargassum. A carpet of sargassum, layer upon layer. You can’t swim. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow,” a beachgoer said on June 22.
The 2024 Sargassum season has been particularly tough in the Mexican Caribbean during the first few months of the year. Other destinations plagued by the Sargassum invasion include Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Florida, which have been affected to a lesser extent.
It’s possible to spot large clumps of algae heading toward the Dominican Republic, but the University of South Florida predicts landfall will decrease in the coming months.
“Sargassum flooding in almost all areas is expected to improve over the next few months,” they concluded.
