Over the past week, many beaches along Mexico's Caribbean coast have been heavily contaminated with sargassum algae. There was so much algae that utility services and hotel workers stopped cleaning it up, and even if they did, the algae kept coming back again and again. Algae lay in a thick layer on the shore and floated in huge brown spots in the water.
Strong winds that blew from the southeast at a speed of 30-40 kilometers per hour drove algae from the ocean to the Mexican coast. In summer, there is traditionally a lot of algae in the Atlantic Ocean; they move past the Antilles towards the Gulf of Mexico and the coast of Florida and do not always reach the Mexican shores. But the winds change the direction of sea currents, and then the algae begin to arrive on the beaches of Mexican resorts.
The environmental organization Red de Monitoreo del Sargazo Cancún is now forced to conduct daily monitoring of the beaches of the Caribbean coast of Mexico, reflecting the amount of algae on the beaches on its maps. As of May 22, 2021, of the 80 beaches located from Cancun to Tulum, more than half — at 44 — An excessive amount of Sargassum algae was noted. On 7 beaches the amount of algae was high, on 12 — average, and 17 beaches had little or no algae.
The beaches of Playa del Carmen, such as El Recodo, Punta Esmeralda, Playa Fundadores and Playacar, were the most heavily polluted. In Cancun, the famous Playa Delfines and Playa Coral were damaged. In addition, the «outdoor» beaches were significantly damaged. parts of Cozumel: Punta Molas, Playa Xanan and Playa Bonita. In the south of the state of Quintana Roo, almost all beaches are polluted, but most of all — Xcacel-Xcacelito, which is known as a favorite nesting site for turtles.
Recales importantes de#Sargazo, desde Punta Nizuc, hasta Tulum, en la nueva actualización de de la Red de Monitoreo del Sargazo Cancún.pic.twitter.com/kL9tCySVv6
— ACLUVAQ (@AcluvaqOficial)May 22, 2021
The winds eased slightly, the beaches were cleaned, and by the evening of May 23, Red de Monitoreo del Sargazo Cancún reported a significant improvement in the condition of beaches along the entire Caribbean coast. There are significantly fewer heavily polluted beaches, only 7, all of them are located in the Playa del Carmen area, where the accumulation of algae is associated with the coastal topography. But at many beaches, the algae continued to float in large quantities in the water, suggesting it will hit the shore in the coming days.
An environmental group is complaining that measures taken by the Mexican Navy to keep beaches free of algae are having no effect. Although the Navy leadership regularly publishes reports and photographs showing tons of algae collected at sea, in fact the anti-algae barriers do not work, and special boats that collect algae at sea are not able to protect the entire coastline. Utilities don't have enough resources to clean beaches, and truly clean beaches — only from large fromeliers. The remaining hotels are waiting for the algae supply to naturally decrease.
Mexico's beaches will see even more algae this year than 2019, according to a recently released forecast from the University of South Florida. Satellite monitoring of the surface of the North Atlantic shows that in April the area of the «carpet» of algae in the Atlantic Ocean amounted to 1,036 square kilometers, an increase of 333% compared to the previous month.
Let us remind you that since 2015, there has been an excessive presence of algae on the beaches of Cancun and the Riviera Maya. In 2018-2019, algae became a real natural disaster, threatening regional tourism, and beach pollution was even declared an environmental disaster. The Mexican government allocated considerable funds to combat algae, and the navy was appointed responsible for collecting algae at sea. Algae barriers have been placed along many beaches along the Caribbean coast, and municipal beach cleanup staff have been significantly increased.
In 2020, the arrival of a large amount of algae on the beaches of Cancun occurred during the quarantine period of the beaches associated with the coronavirus epidemic; for this reason, the guest industry did not feel the consequences of beach pollution.
Every year since 2015, the amount of algae in the ocean begins to increase rapidly in April and peaks between May and August, before almost disappearing in the winter. The reasons for this behavior of algae are not fully understood. It is known that the development of algae begins on the western coast of Africa, from where currents transport them to the shores of Brazil and then to the Caribbean. Scientists link the abnormal rate of algae growth to rising ocean temperatures and water pollution from industrial waste and fertilizers that serve as nutrients.