The seaweed, known as sargassum, washes off the shores of white, sandy beaches as tourists begin to return to the country after the pandemic, according to an ABC News report. “We can say that the current situation is worrying,” said Navy Secretary Jose Ojeda, who heads the Sargasso collection operation at sea, before hitting the beaches. The Navy currently has 11 sargo collection vessels in the Caribbean. So many algae reach the beaches that hotels and local authorities reportedly use bulldozers and excavations to collect the algae-like plant. Large machines also collect sand and contribute to beach erosion, said Rosa Rodríguez Martínez, a biologist in the coastal city of Puerto Morelos who studies reefs and coastal ecosystems for the National Autonomous University of Mexico. The Mexican Navy has 11 vessels collecting sargassos in the Caribbean. ZUMAPRESS.com Experts fear sargass levels could be the highest since the files were created in 2018. EPA “There is so much sarcasm that you can no longer use small-scale equipment, you have to use heavy things and when the excavators come in, they remove more sand,” he told the news agency. Experts fear that the current sarcasm accumulation could peak the records set in 2018.
