The Sargassum season in the Mexican Caribbean officially started the last week of March. more than two months later it started polluting Quintana Roo’s beaches in 2023.
Local vendors reported that in late January 2023, the beaches of Playa del Carmen, Tulum and Cancun were covered in tons of the rather nasty seaweed.
But this year, even spring breakers could discover some of the most Instagram-worthy beaches in the world, completely sargassum-free.
This unexpected phenomenon has left tourists and locals alike wondering if this is the beginning of a stable situation decrease of sargassum in the coming months or years.
According to experts, the mass arrival of sargassum on the Mexican Caribbean coasts is caused by environmental and human factors, including but not limited to higher water temperatures, unfavorable ocean currents and high wind speed, as well as an excess of nutrients poured into the waters by the agricultural industry.
Although Easter passed without major incidents, Top experts warn the problem hasn’t gone anywhere.
Even as cities like Tulum brace for the arrival of insane amounts of sargassum in the coming days, data suggests that this year’s final tons could be lower than in previous seasons.
Factors contributing to sargassum’s apparent decline by 2024 include changes in ocean currents and favorable weather conditionswhich have a direct impact on the quantity and distribution of algae in the ocean.
According to the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, when controlled, this algae runoff serves as a natural habitat for some important marine species, as well as food, shade and shelter for crabs, fish, shrimp and turtles.
Dedicated to keeping beaches pristine, the Secretary of the Navy works non-stop to capture and collect the algae in the sea before it washes ashore, where Cancun’s shallow waters allow it to grow even larger.
Recently, the Secretary of the Navy’s Gulf and Caribbean Oceanography Institute updated its sargassum alert category to two, “very low” of one, “low”.
Renowned beaches such as Tulum, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel and Xcacel will see increased sargassum levels starting this week.
