Where does the seaweed come from? Gulfweed or sea holly, as it s sometimes called, originates in the Sargasso Sea. Currents push it south, then east, either into the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf Stream or the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf Stream carries it north, unless stronger east winds drive it onshore. The rest circles the Atlantic until it sinks and dies in the Sargasso Sea.
Is there anything good about seaweed?
In moderation, it has many environmental benefits, such as holding beach sand in place and providing food, fertilizer, hide-out habitat and nest-building materials for a vast array of wildlife, including birds, crabs, young turtles and dune plants. However, blooms have been increasing to problematic sizes over the past decade.
For centuries, pelagic
Sargassum, floating brown seaweed, have grown in low nutrient waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, supported by natural nutrient sources like excretions from fishes and invertebrates, upwelling and nitrogen fixation. Using a unique historical baseline from the 1980s and comparing it to samples collected since 2010, researchers from Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and collaborators have discovered dramatic changes in the chemistry and composition of
Sargassum, transforming this vibrant living organism into a toxic “dead zone.”
Their findings, published in
, suggest that increased nitrogen availability from natural and anthropogenic sources, including sewage, is supporting blooms of