Sargassum is back: Riviera Maya sees major increase in seaweed on beaches

The Riviera Maya connected Mexico’s Caribbean seashore is seeing up to 50% much seaweed connected its beaches this year, aft experiencing little levels of sargassum successful 2024, according to the Federal Maritime Terrestrial Zone (Zofemat).

The postulation of seaweed successful the fashionable tourer destination of Tulum accrued by conscionable implicit 50% during the archetypal 2 months of 2025 compared to the aforesaid play past year, the municipal manager of Zofemat Juan Antonio Garza reported.

Increasing quantities of sargassum seaweed person been washing ashore successful the Riviera Maya since 2011, posing a situation to section authorities arsenic they enactment to support the beaches cleanable and harmless for tourism — a superior root of income successful the region.

In January and February, Tulum collected 79 metric tons and 59 metric tons of seaweed respectively, compared to 36 metric tons successful January and 50 metric tons successful February 2024.

Zofemat expects to cod adjacent much seaweed during the precocious sargassum play from May to November, with higher seaweed levels expected for 2025, peculiarly affecting the Tulum coast.

Garza has a squad of implicit 50 radical dedicated to the regular postulation of seaweed crossed respective protected earthy areas successful Tulum. He emphasized that coordination betwixt authorities and national authorities is cardinal to addressing the issue.

The accrued prevalence of seaweed not lone deters tourism but besides has a antagonistic ecological interaction connected the region, arsenic it tin harm marine ecosystems.

“Sargassum brownish tides person degraded h2o prime and caused the decease of seagrass beds successful coastal areas,” wrote Eduardo Gabriel Torres Conde, a marine subject researcher for the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), successful his doctoral thesis.  “Natural recolonization of seagrass beds successful these areas tin instrumentality decades and is particularly challenging owed to sediment question and question vigor successful near-coastal areas.”

When ample quantities of sargassum connected beaches decompose, they nutrient hydrogen sulfide, which tin harm humans, prompting symptoms specified arsenic nausea, watery eyes, headaches and nonaccomplishment of sleep, according to Rosa Rodríguez Martínez, an world astatine the Reef Systems Unit of the Institute of Marine Sciences and Limnology (UNAM).

Rodríguez said that portion determination was nary proven contiguous oregon important hazard for residents oregon tourists, it is recommended that large women, children, the aged and radical with illnesses specified arsenic asthma and bosom nonaccomplishment bounds their exposure.

Cancún, Tulum and Cozumel person been the hardest-hit by the caller seaweed arrivals. (Red Sargazo/Facebook)

The Riviera Maya tourism manufacture was pleasantly amazed by the little amounts of sargassum arriving connected Mexico’s Caribbean beaches successful 2024. The Tulum offices of the national Environmental Ministry reported that sargassum postulation successful Tulum was 75% little successful the archetypal 5 months of 2024 compared to during the aforesaid January to May play successful 2023.

The Quintana Roo Sargassum Monitoring Network offers a regular societal media update connected seaweed levels successful the region.

With reports from La Jornada Maya, Reportur, Debate and National Geographic