Sargassum Sweeps Miami

JOINING US. SOME FLORIDA BEACHES ARE BEING OVERWHELMED WITH MILLIONS OF TONS OF A SMELLY BROWN SEAWEED CALLED SARGASSUM. WELL, SOUTHWEST FLORIDA BEACHES ARE SPARED AT THE MOMENT. A RECORD ABOUT OF THE SEAWEED HAS BEEN WASHING ASHORE IN THE MIAMI AREA, THE KEYS AND UP IN NORTHWEST FLORIDA. THE SMELL HAS BEACHGOERS TURNING UP THEIR NOSES AND WORKERS TRYING TO CLEAN IT UP AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. DESPITE FRUSTRATING MANY PEOPLE, SARGASSO IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE ECOSYSTEM. JOINING ME NOW IS LESLIE HUDSON FROM THE FLORIDA PUBLIC RADIO EMERGENCY NETWORK. >> WHO WE ARE VERY PROUD TO PARTNER WITH HERE AT WGCU >> LESLIE, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US. >> YES, AND OF COURSE, HAPPY TO BE HERE. >> CAN YOU FIRST TELL OUR AUDIENCE WHAT EXACTLY SARGASSUM IS IT? YES. SO SARCASM IS IS DEPENDING ON WHO YOU ARE, WHERE YOU LIVE IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA, YOU CAN FIND IT EITHER BENEFICIAL OR A NUISANCE. AND MOST PEOPLE FIND IT A NUISANCE. IT'S A LARGE A BELT OF OF MY COATS. TOPIC MATTER THAT FLOATS IN THE ATLANTIC, THE CARIBBEAN, AND IT FLOATS GENERALLY TOWARDS THE UNITED STATES IN THE SUMMER MONTHS. NOW IT CAN VARY FROM YEAR TO YEAR SOME YEARS. IT CAN BE NOT AS BAD AS OTHERS. THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS. WE'VE KIND OF BEEN THIS UPTICK WHERE THIS SARGASSUM HAS BEEN VERY PREVALENT AND THIS YEAR, RESEARCHERS ARE SAYING THAT THE SARGASSUM BELT THAT WE USUALLY COUNTED STARTS DOWN BY MEXICO AND FLOATS NORTHWARD TOWARDS THE U.S. IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE ONE OF THE WORST, A BELT US OUR GUYS AND WE'VE SEEN IN SEVERAL YEARS. SO THEY'RE CALLING IT POSSIBLY A POTENTIAL RECORD BREAKING YEAR IN TERMS OF HOW THAT WILL IMPACT THE UNITED STATES. AND WE'VE ALREADY SEEN LARGE FLOTILLAS OF THE STAR COME TO THE SHORES OF THE UNITED STATES IN FLORIDA, IN PARTICULAR. WE'VE HAD ALREADY SEVERAL BOUTS OF IT THIS SUMMER AND IT DISSIPATED THAT TO INCREASE AS WE GET INTO THE SUMMER MONTHS. AND AS IT FLOATS NORTHWARD, YOU COULD KIND OF TRACK IT. NOAA, THE NATIONAL OCEANIC ADMINISTRATION, THAT ATMOSPHERE COULD MINISTRATION HAS A WEBSITE WHERE YOU CAN ACTUALLY JUST GOOGLE SARGASSUM TRACKER AND YOU CAN ACTUALLY TRACK THAT THOSE BELTS LIFE AND SEE WHERE THEY ARE. YOU ALSO CAN CHECK IN WITH YOUR LIFE GUARDS AT YOUR BEACHES. THEY ALSO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO SWIM IN, A LOT OF PEOPLE DO NOT. THEY DON'T FIND IT FAVORABLE. SO YOU CAN CHECK AHEAD IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SWIM IN THE SARCASM, BUT WE ARE ANTICIPATING THIS TO BE ONE OF THE WORST YEARS WE'VE SEEN IN RECENT YEARS WITH THE IMPACTS HERE. >> WHAT IS THE LATEST MOVEMENT OF THIS >> OF THIS? IT JUST THIS ENTIRE SARGASSUM DRIFT THAT WE'RE CALLING IT. >> SO THERE'S IT'S VERY PREVALENT RIGHT NOW IN THE FLORIDA KEYS. AND IRONICALLY, OVER MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND, MOST OF THE COAST OF FLORIDA DID OKAY WHEN THERE WAS A LOT OF PEOPLE AT THE BEACH IS TRYING TO COOL OFF AND TRYING TO GET INTO THE OCEAN. BUT JUST 5 DAYS LATER AFTER MEMORIAL DAY, WE HAD IT INFLUX OF SARCASM ALL ACROSS THE STATE OF FLORIDA. IN PARTICULAR, THE SOUTHEAST SIDE AND THE SOUTHWEST SIDE OF THE STATE BECAUSE AGAIN, WE'RE A PENINSULA AND THESE ARE LARGE BELTS OF SARGASSUM THAT FLOW NORTHWARD CURRENTLY, WE'RE SEEING A BIG INFLUX OF THAT SARCASM IN THE FLORIDA KEYS. THEY USUALLY GET IT PRETTY MUCH CONSISTENTLY THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER MONTHS. IT VARIES ON HOW THICK IT IS. HOW MUCH IT EXTENDS ACROSS THE GULF SIDE AND THE ATLANTIC SIDE ISN'T POSSIBLE TO SORT OF FORECAST WHERE THE MAJORITY IS HEADED. SO AGAIN, IT'S IT'S IT'S VARIANT ON THOSE WIND ON THOSE WIND DIRECTION. SO IF IT'S IT DRIFTS JUST ON THE CURRENTS, THERE IS NO AND, YOU KNOW, NO LIVE ANIMALS THAT ARE MOVING THESE BELTS. SO IF THE WINDSOR PREDOMINANTLY MOVING SHIFTING WEST AND WE'RE GETTING A PREDOMINANT WEST WIND OR NORTHWEST COMPONENT, THAT'S GOING TO PUSH SOME OF THOSE BELTS THAT HAVE BEEN PLAGUING AREAS LIKE MEXICO. YOU MAY HAVE SEEN SOME ON SOCIAL MEDIA, SOME OF THE VIDEOS THAT HAVE COME OUT OF PARTS OF SOUTH AMERICA AND INTO MEXICO WHERE THERE'S BEEN JUST A HUGE, HUGE, THE BELT OF THE THE SARGASSUM CARPETS. THEY'RE CALLED. AND THOSE EVENTUALLY MOVE NORTHWARD IN. AND OF COURSE, ONCE YOU GET INTO THE GULF OF INTO THE GULF, THERE IS NO OTHER PLACE FOR IT TO GO OTHER THAN THE GULF COAST STATES. AND SO THAT'S WHY WE GET THESE INFLUX IS SO THE INFLUX STARTED IN MAY IN THOSE COUNTRIES AND HIS PUSH NORTHWARD. SO CURRENTLY THERE ARE SO THERE ARE A LOT OF BELTS THAT ARE IMPACTING THE CARIBBEAN ISLANDS. YOU KNOW, THAT KID IMPACT FOLKS THAT HAVE SUMMER PLANS THAT GO DOWN TO THE CARIBBEAN FOR THE SUMMER MONTHS. THERE IS, YOU KNOW, SOME THAT'S IMPACTING PARTS OF JAMAICA AS WELL. BUT THERE IS NOT ONE MASSIVE BELT THAT'S COMING TO THE UNITED STATES. THERE'S JUST LITTLE CLUSTERS, BUT THESE ARE SEVERAL 100 YARDS LONG. THE VERY LARGE THERE'S NOT ONE MASSIVE MILE WIDE BELT THAT'S COMING TO THE U.S. THERE ARE CLUSTERS. THE BREAKUP WITH THE OCEAN CURRENT. SO IT'S A DEPENDENT ON THE WINDS AND THOSE OCEAN CURRENTS THAT WILL PUSH EVERYTHING EVENTUALLY TOWARDS THE U.S. IS WE GET INTO THE SUMMER. DOES IT HAVE ANY IMPACT ON THE HEALTH OF HUMANS OR PETS THAT ARE ON THE BEACH? SO IT'S NOT NECESSARILY DANGEROUS IF YOU OBVIOUSLY YOU CAN. YOU CAN INTERACT IN THE WATER AND IT'S NOT GOING TO HARM YOU AND IT. IT DOES HAVE HARMFUL EFFECTS IF IT'S LEFT IN THE WATER, IT CAN AND THERE'S MULTIPLE THINGS THAT CAN HAPPEN SO IT CAN. IT ABSORBS SOME OF THE OXYGEN THAT'S AROUND IT. SO OFTEN TIMES IF THERE'S A BIG CARPET OF SARCASM THAT KIND OF GET STALLED IN A PARTICULAR BETTY, A BODY OF WATER. IT CAN CREATE A FISH KILL BECAUSE THE OXYGEN AROUND IT IS KIND OF ABSORBED INTO THAT BELT SO IT CAN HAVE A VERY DETRIMENTAL EFFECT ON MARINE LIFE WHEN IT'S IN THE WATER, IT CAN ACTUALLY SERVE AS A BENEFIT FOR BABY SEA TURTLES. THEY WILL ACTUALLY RIDE IN THE CURRENTS IN SARGASSUM BELT. IT WHICH IS A HUGE BENEFIT FOR THE SEA TURTLE POPULATION. SO A LOT OF FOLKS GET THE UP IN ARMS ABOUT SARCASM. WHEN YOU SAY IT'S NOT GOOD FOR THE FLOOR, ANY PARTICULAR AREA. HAS ITS BENEFITS OFFSHORE WHEN IT'S FLOATING THROUGH AND THE ATLANTIC OR THE CARIBBEAN. AS LONG AS IT'S NOT IMPACTING OXYGEN LEVELS IN AREAS IT WHEN IT GETS CLOSER TO LAND IN ACTUALLY MAKES LANDFALL, THAT IT BECOMES MORE OF A CONCERN. AND YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHY WE ARE SEEING THIS RECORD NUMBER OF SARGASSUM OF FIELDS AND BLANKETING THE CARIBBEAN. THE GULF. WHY IS IT SO BAD THIS YEAR? WELL, THE RESEARCHERS THAT IT'S VERY HARD TO LIKE I SAID TO PINPOINT IT TO ONE SPECIFIC THING. BUT THERE IT'S KIND OF LIKE HURRICANE SEASON. WE GO THROUGH CYCLES. THEY'RE VERY THE IN HURRICANE SEASON. WE CAN GO INTO A DE CALLE CYCLE WERE HAD 10 YEARS OR SO ARE ITS VERY BUSY. A LOT OF TROPICAL DEVELOPMENT SARGASSUM IS SIMILAR TO THAT. SO THERE WILL BE A CYCLE WHERE THERE'S BEEN AN WE ARE CURRENTLY IN AN INCREASED CYCLE LAST YEAR WAS ALSO A VERY BAD YEAR IN TERMS OF SARCASM IMPACTING UNITED STATES AND FLORIDA. SO WE'RE IN THAT PATTERN WHERE MORE OF IT IS COMING OFF OF THE CURRENTS DOWN BY SOUTH AMERICA DOWN BY MEXICO AND PULLING IN TO US BECAUSE AGAIN, YOU GET LANDLOCKED ONCE OF THE THOSE BELTS GET INTO THE GULF. BUT A LOT OF IT IS COMING DOWN FROM SOUTH AMERICA AND WE'RE SEEING JUST A BIGGER FOR INFLUX THESE LAST SEVERAL YEARS. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR EXPERTISE TODAY. MS HUDSON, THANK YOU. YOU'RE WELCOME. >> FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS