by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:35 AM ET, Wed January 17, 2024
Experts believe the stinky seaweed known as sargassum that
impacted several popular Mexican tourism destinations in recent years could return
as early as February.
According to Mexico
News Daily, oceanographers from the University of South Florida discovered
a mass of sargassum in the Atlantic Ocean that could bring record levels of the
seaweed to Mexico and Central America in 2024.
The sargassum mass is “nearly five times larger” than the
mass discovered last year and could arrive by February and last through
October.
A research group, Sargassum Monitoring, said the seaweed mass
could reach the northern Antilles in around three weeks before landing on
beaches in the Dominican Republic in March.
The stinky substance is expected in parts of Florida and
Mexico by April or May.
The Quintana Roo Technical Council for Sargassum Management
said it is following the trajectory of the sargassum and is developing a plan
to handle the seaweed before it reaches popular beaches and once it makes landfall,
according to State Environment Minister Josefina Huggette Hernandez.
One popular tourism destination, Tulum,
launched an initiative to stop the arrival of the stinky seaweed. The
comprehensive containment plan includes five new anti-sargassum vessels and
other equipment that uses dragnets to stop the foul substance from reaching the
shore.
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