Toxicity Inquiry

[Mrs. B]

Huh. Well met, then.

I take it your familiar with the mounds of moss that washes up on the beach by the jetty then?


We're doing some work in the marina, and it's quite the sight I have to say.

I used to do some work with ciguatera with a marine biologist (UVI) named Joe McMillan but I do not really recall anything like that

 

[Coopladoop]

I used to do some work with ciguatera with a marine biologist (UVI) named Joe McMillan but I do not really recall anything like that

Interesting. Perhaps it is a recent development, then.

At least once a week we see crews of men out on the beach raking up 10 foot heaps of moss that floats in and gets trapped right along the shoreline. It's become the norm over time, but usually the docks/marina itself remains clear of significant amounts.

 

[Mrs. B]

Interesting. Perhaps it is a recent development, then.

At least once a week we see crews of men out on the beach raking up 10 foot heaps of moss that floats in and gets trapped right along the shoreline. It's become the norm over time, but usually the docks/marina itself remains clear of significant amounts.

I never saw anything like that

although in Hawaii, maybe once (smelly mass floated in)

Maybe ask the marine biologists at UVI? I would think they would be on it because they are always sampling

although the storm probably has them disorganized

 

[boulderjohn]

In normal amounts, sargassum is an essential part of ocean ecology. It is a brown algae, like Kelp, except that it does not attach the way kelp does. It actually produces oxygen.

When it has a population explosion, it can wash up on shores, rot, and give off sulphur compounds that can be quite unpleasant to smell and that can damage property. Such problems are happening with greater and greater frequency, and the most common explanation is ocean warming and climate change affecting currents.