Algae plague in the Caribbean: “Nature reproduces”

Status: 04/16/2023 1:24 PM

The Caribbean beach cliché is over in the Cancun area. Instead, rotting algae accumulate. A huge belt of algae stretches from Mexico to Africa.

Written by Ann Diemer, ARD Studio Mexico City

Gentle waves lap the shore, washing fresh algae ashore with every movement. A mixture of rotten eggs and rotten fish filled the air. Mounds of brown seaweed hide the white sands of the Caribbean.

Anne Demer
ARD-Studio Mexico City

The blue and white striped lounge chairs at a beach bar in the small Mexican resort town of Puerto Morelos, about an hour’s drive from Cancun, are mostly empty. An American couple from Detroit wasn’t too bothered by this. Still sipping sunset margaritas on the beach.

Helen Krempring stares off into the distance, beyond the brown soup, to where the water still shimmers turquoise. The American tourist says it’s a sign that something is wrong. “Nature is rebelling. We love this little town very much and would find it very bad if people here lost their livelihood to a moss plague.”

The problem is getting worse

Brown algae, otherwise called sargassum, is not a new problem in the area. It’s only getting worse, explains biologist from the Research Institute of Puerto Morelos of the Autonomous University of Mexico, Brigitta van Tusenbrueck.

The plague appeared particularly early this year. Basically, brown algae are an important part of the ecosystem and of great interest to many marine organisms. These algae provide a special shelter for crabs, fish and turtles. But, as is often the case, it depends on the crowd. If the growth gets out of control and gets out of control, the biologist explains, the algae become dangerous.

Deforestation, eutrophication, climate change

One reason for the overgrowth is that rivers carry more nutrients than they used to. This has to do with intensive farming and associated deforestation. Trees usually retain soil and nutrients. But when trees are cut down, some of the soil erosion ends up in the sea. Then the nutrients that entered the water promoted algae growth.

Van Tussenbroek also sees a connection with the intensive cultivation of soybeans, for example in the Amazon, Congo or Mississippi. Large quantities of fertilizers, which are to be spread in deforested areas for newly planted soybean fields, enter the sea through rivers.

Experts see another reason for climate change: temperatures in the world’s oceans are rising, which also promotes brown algae blooms.

Tourism disaster

In Puerto Morelos, the range is particularly extreme. It’s a disaster for a region that relies almost entirely on tourism, says Mario Zleba, a hotel manager in Puerto Morelos.

More and more tourists are leaving early. The local economy is shrinking. The entire year used to be high season for the region, but now it’s very limited periods. Visitors still come, but most are local tourists from the area.

Municipalities have taken action, according to the hotel manager. In the visible distance, blue plastic buoys with attached nets float. This somewhat helps restrain algae. Time and time again, the local government uses large vessels to collect algae clumps.

Every morning diggers and pitchforks try to remove algae from the beaches. Mountains of algae grow again overnight.

Photo: ARD Studio Mexico City

Sisyphus works with the digger

In the morning, just before sunrise, diggers and men and women armed with pitchforks arrive to recreate a beautiful Caribbean postcard for the tourists. But overnight the mountains of algae grow back. It is a never-ending task for Sisyphus, and it carries huge costs.

In a desperate situation, resourceful companies from the area around Cancun are trying to find ways to use sargassum: they are looking for creative solutions: bricks, fertilizers, leather bags and flower pots are made from it. But looking at clumps of algae, they look like a drop in the ocean.

Rotting algae harmful to man and nature

Anke Schneider, project manager at the German Association for International Cooperation (GIZ), advises the local government on the site. As before, there are no rules, especially when it comes to getting rid of algae, she says. This is currently in the works.

After collecting the sargassum, it is important to transport it to an actual final destination, as it contains many toxic substances and should not simply be dumped in the nearest forest or piled high in the mountains on the beach. The Sargassum Mountains are currently landing somewhere in the jungle, some illegally.

Algae already bind large amounts of carbon dioxide during growth and could do a lot in combating climate change. But when the dead parts of the plant rot, they produce chemical compounds that are harmful to marine life and can also cause skin irritations and rashes in humans.

8,000 km of algae belts

The algae belt stretches 8,000 km from the coast of Africa to the Gulf of Mexico. It’s heading toward Florida, hitting Central American countries like Belize or Cuba, which have few resources to fight off an algae plague.

There will be no quick fix to the problem, said Van Tosenbroeck: “Of course it’s a very complex problem, because there are no individuals responsible for triggering this phenomenon. We’ve all done it together.” Accordingly, the biologist must also work together internationally to find a solution.

Mexico: An Algae Plague in a Caribbean Paradise

Ann Demer, ARD Mexico, Apr 16, 2023 1:24 p.m

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