After an abnormally challenging sargassum season this year, Playa del Carmen beaches receive a much needed clean with the help of local crews and of course – hurricane Grace passing through.
The head of the Directorate of the Federal Maritime Terrestrial Zone, Marco Loeza Pacheco said in a recent interview that when hurricane Grace passed through it changed many marine currents which resulted in a significant decrease in sargassum presence on the coastline beaches.
“Before hurricane Grace passed through we were collecting upwards towards 200 tons of sargassum (seaweed) from the beaches per day. After hurricane Grace passed through that number dropped to about 30-35 tons per day, which is a huge decrease for what we have been dealing with this year and is much more easy to manage.” Pacheco said.
This year there has already been over 18,000 tons of seaweed collected along these beautiful Mexican Caribbean coastlines. 18,000 tons from the massive 5.1 metric ton sargassum patch that Nasa reported at the start of the season.
There is a Sargasso Monitoring Network that publishes daily giving everyone the latest information on Sargassum. You can find an up to date world map here. And you can also tune into their Facebook page here.
On many parts of the coastline like Quintana Roo, the sargassum barriers were taken out of the water to prevent damage by the hurricane. A plan to reinstall them has been temporarily postponed as they await another storm to pass. These barriers are a huge help to onshore workers and authorities in charge of removing the smelly seaweed and maintaining the beaches.
The sargassum phenomenon happens all over the world and Mexico takes pride in their advancements in the fight against it. With the help of local authorities, local community workers, NASA and other global monitoring systems each year there are improvements made that help maintain the beaches and make seaweed season as pleasant as possible for everyone.
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