Big Seaweed blob heading for Caribbean and Florida

[Cheizz]

Not sure which subforum to put this in...

A massive smelly seaweed blob is floating from the Atlantic into Florida and the Caribbean. Will this influence diving operations much? And how?

 

[tomfcrist]

Nope. It will make the Dolphin/sailfish/wahoo fishing epic this year though.

The concern is once it collects on land, it it’s not removed it stinks like hell, and the gasses it releases tends to kill the small fish in the mangroves (this is a fish nursery).

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Not sure which subforum to put this in...

A massive smelly seaweed blob is floating from the Atlantic into Florida and the Caribbean. Will this influence diving operations much? And how?

Doesn't really impact boat diving but it can make beach diving, snorkeling and other beach activities more challenging. The biggest issue it poses is dealing with it as it accumulates on the beaches.

 

[Doc]

It’s all over. First the red tide, now The Blob.

Next? The Kardasians!

 

[LightBrownPillow]

I wonder if it will be a benefit to the manatees at all, just endless floating snacks. But if it does put off a lot of bad gasses then would it impact their breathing?

 

[boulderjohn]

I wonder if it will be a benefit to the manatees at all, just endless floating snacks. But if it does put off a lot of bad gasses then would it impact their breathing?

Good question. I tried to find out about manatees eating sargassum, but the only thing I found with that specific term was a picture of a manatee eating a small bunch of what was called sargassum. That small bunch looked green in the picture. Sargassum is brown.

Everything I read said that manatees primarily eat sea grass but will sometimes supplement that diet with algae, but those articles did not specify what kind of algae. I would suppose they are primarily eating green algae. Sargassum is brown algae.

Normal sized sargassum blooms are vital to the environment, but an out-of-balance mass like this is harmful. It creates a massive dead zone, deprived of oxygen. I assume it will kill the sea grass that is the primary food source of manatees.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I wonder if it will be a benefit to the manatees at all, just endless floating snacks. But if it does put off a lot of bad gasses then would it impact their breathing?

Interesting question. I wish that were the case, but I don't believe so. In the sargassum blooms in the past there hasn't been a manatee feeding frenzy. My uneducated guess would be that they don't (and possibly can't) eat sargassum. As @boulderjohn mentioned above, their primary food is sea grass which they supplement with other green vegetation such as algae, grass and other green plans along the edge of canals, even lettuce that the FWC has been experimenting with feeding them to keep them alive when the sea grass dies off due to pollution and other human impacts. Hopefully other ScubaBoarders who are more educated on this topic can chime in.

 

[rmorgan]

Unfortunately, if there is a silver lining to massive sargassum intrusions, it is yet to shine. E.g.: “A joint experiment between WWF-Mexico and STINAPA Bonaire found that vegetables grown in soil enriched with sargassum had higher levels of arsenic and cadmium, heavy metals that can be toxic to humans and animals. Researchers warn that sargassum should not be used to compliment animal fodder, nor used as a fertilizer for consumables until further investigated.” Sargassum Fertilizer Transfers Heavy Metals to Vegetables - DCNA.