The Sarcastic Sargassum

Turning a Nuisance into a Blessing      The sargassum seaweed that has been washing up upon our shores thus far has only served as a nuisance to society, government and marine life. However this is a fairly one-sided approach. Surely there must be a way for sargassum to be of value in our environment. Instead of looking at the seaweed as a huge inconvenience, we can utilize it in an innovative way that can create new employment for those that are directly affected by its presence and others. We can use seaweed in the agricultural industry as fertilizers, as animal feed, in grafting plants and it can act as a nursery for young marine animals.      Many agriculturally plantations use artificial fertilizers that have to be diluted in water before applying to their plants, if these salts and supplements are used incorrectly it can cause severe damage to crops. This is a costly and risky way to treat their precious crops. A cost-effective and useful applic...

Sargassum Seaweed Causing Us Stress       For the past seven years, seaweed has affected the shores of the Caribbean in many adverse ways. These issues can be categorized as economic and physical effects. These problems include aesthetic degradation, hampering leather-back turtle nesting, the disruption of the fishing industry and the putrid smell of rotting seaweed throughout the community. Mounds of rotting seaweed on Guadeloupe in April, HELENE VALENZUELA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES     Firstly, when we speak of aesthetic degradation along the coast of the Caribbean, it can impact tourism in a great way. In the Caribbean many islands depend on tourism as an economic stronghold. Many tourists flock to the Caribbean to embrace the “sun, sand and sea” that is popularly advertised as our main attraction. However, when mounds of seaweed accumulates upon our shores it serves as a deterrent tourists from visiting our islands. This in turn leads to economic ...

The Weed Invasion, Sargassum Edition Since 2011, the shores of Trinidad and Tobago has been plagued with the sargassum seaweed invasion and is seen as a nuisance to most citizens. However we can only reduce the sargassum influx if we know where it comes from. Where does it come from? Does it form along our shores, or is it transported from oceans apart? Map of the distribution of sargassum across the Atlantic Ocean, Photo: UWI, Mona Initially, it was believed that the sargassum seaweed seen in the Caribbean stemmed from the Sargasso Sea which is also called “The Golden Floating Rainforest” . This particular name was given to this region because of a reservoir of sargassum seaweed approximated to hold about 10 million metric tons. The enormous amount of seaweed accounts for the golden hue seen for miles across the Sargasso Sea. It was assumed that the currents of the Atlantic Ocean distributed the seaweed generously throughout the Caribbean. Are we sure this is ...