by Donald Wood
Last updated: 2:16 PM ET, Mon February 24, 2020
Experts believe the sargassum seaweed problem which impacts the Yucatan Peninsula and other coastal towns in the Caribbean each year will not be as intense in 2020.
According to The University of South Florida's Outlook of 2020 Sargassum, the amount of seaweed found in the Central West Atlantic Ocean is lower than it was in 2019 and other years when the problem was at its worst.
The Yucatan Times found the sargassum monitoring forecast for Cancun, Playa del Carmen and the surrounding areas indicates a drop in seaweed tides compared to the last two years, with minimal impact on the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Straits.
The report predicts average amounts of sargassum will arrive in the Caribbean Sea between February and March, while Barbados, Tobago and Guadeloupe are expected to experience moderate tides on windward beaches into the spring.
Cancun and Playa del Carmen are expected to begin seeing the stinky seaweed between April and June before it departs once again later in the summer. To combat the sargassum that does arrive, destinations along Mexico's Caribbean coast will utilize ships designed to capture the seaweed and barriers designed to funnel it away from popular beaches.
Quintana Roo Governor Carlos Joaquin recently said that despite forecasts suggesting a significant decrease in the volume of sargassum that could reach Quintana Roo shores, they are preparing boats and barriers to stop any of the seaweed that does arrive.
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