If you’ve been on the coasts of Florida in the last couple of weeks, you’ve probably seen bunches of brown seaweed washing up on the shore.
That’s called sargassum. It’s a macro algae that blows ashore in Florida around spring-time. As it rots, the seaweed produces hydrogen sulfide gas, which causes an unpleasant smell — similar to rotten eggs.
READ MORE: Research reveals possible cause behind sargassum blooms on Florida beaches
Cleveland Clinic of Florida Dr. Justin Dolan says sargassum can impact your health.
"Anything ranging from simple skin irritation to irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, as well as progression to irritation of the airways of the lungs," he said.
Those with underlying health conditions — like asthma or chronic pulmonary disease —are more likely to experience respiratory symptoms.
A record amount of sargassum piled up across the Caribbean and nearby areas, according to a report released in May by University of South Florida’s Optical Oceanography Lab.
The brown prickly algae is suffocating shorelines from Puerto Rico to Guyana and beyond, disrupting tourism, killing wildlife and even releasing toxic gases that forced one school in the French Caribbean island of Martinique to temporarily close.
The amount — 38 million metric tons — is the biggest quantity of algae observed across the Caribbean Sea, the western and eastern Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico since scientists began studying the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt in 2011, said Brian Barnes, an assistant research professor at the University of South Florida.
The previous record was set in June 2022, with some 22 million metric tons.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
This is a News In Brief report. Visit WLRN News for in-depth reporting from South Florida and Florida news.
