Plastic-webbed drifters track Sargassum mats for weeks or months at sea

Record-amounts of sargassum flood Miami's beaches sparking the search for a new solution

Record amounts of sargassum have washed ashore along Miami Beach, becoming a growing nuisance for residents, tourists and beach crews. Now, a team of researchers from the University of Miami is exploring whether the smelly seaweed could become a resource instead of a waste problem.

Plastic-webbed drifters track Sargassum mats for weeks or months at sea

They spotted the first mat of Sargassum seaweed several miles out in Biscayne Bay. The captain of the 37-foot (11-meter) Yellowfin brought the vessel to a full stop, allowing the scientists on board to get a closer look at the brown macroalgae that has been washing ashore by the tons this summer and fouling the shorelines of Gulf Coast and Atlantic beaches.

University of Miami researchers explore Black Soldier Flies as a sargassum solution

Researchers at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science are investigating Black Soldier Fly larvae as a potential way to process beached sargassum. The research could support new applications in aquaculture and agriculture. Source: University of Miami A record-breaking bloom of sargassum seaweed is blanketing shores of South Florida, USA, this summer. Inside a lab at the University of Miami Rosenstiel S…

Miami’s Sargassum Crisis Grows as Climate Change Fuels Massive Seaweed Blooms

Cleaning up seaweed has become an increasingly overwhelming job for Miami-Dade County officials, who now spend much of their summer hauling thousands of tons of sargassum off local beaches. Chris Bumpus, chief of conservation for the county’s parks, recreation and open spaces department, oversees efforts to clear the brown algae from 17 miles of coastline—a task that grows harder each year. Sargassum, a floating seaweed that drifts across the oc…