A slimy, brown monster, after slithering free of the Bermuda Triangle, is devouring beaches from Florida to Texas and the Caribbean.
It’s not the plot of a bad science fiction movie, although it involves a whole lot of bad science — just zero fiction.
It’s big, it’s unstoppable, it sometimes disappears only to return. And the powers that be want to keep this threat under wraps.
It’s called Sargassum seaweed and it’s growing out of control, so tourism officials from the best beach towns in the world know that if you knew, you’d stay away. Instead, they’re sticking their heads in the sand and hoping you’ll do the same.
I've been following this story with a bit of interest since a trip to Mexico last March. The beaches there were covered daily with a thick line of stinky seaweed that rendered the beaches unusable (fortunately the swim up bar at the pool was still usable). At the time I wondered if the seaweed was impacting tourism, but not knowing much about it I assumed it was a localized phenomenon.
Since, I have learned that the problem extends well beyond the localized beaches of Mexici to almost all of the heavily visited beaches of the Caribbean islands, the U.S. and Latin American Gulf Coasts, and now even Africa. No one is sure of the cause--many have been offered: climate change (dang coal), excess nutrients run-off (dang farmers), oil dispersants used for the BP/Deepwater Horizon spill (dang BP)--but one thing is fairly certain: Given the quantities, the unpleasantness and the widespread nature of the problem, prolonged exposure is likely to have significant economic consequences for tourism driven economies in the area.
Maybe someone should look into that?
