See the Sargassum sea
A giant blob of seaweed creeping in the Atlantic Ocean is headed to the Gulf of America. Tons of floating seaweed, twice width of United States, it sounds like something from a horror movie — except this blob isn’t eating people. The seaweed blob is called the sargasso sea. It is described to smell like rotten eggs and expected to possibly bring a dump of harmful piles along the shores of Florida and other coastlines throughout the Gulf, which will dampen tourism season. Sargassum has long formed large blooms in the Atlantic Ocean, which has been tracked by scientists since 2011. Sargassum actually has environment benefits since it can be a floating habitat that provides food and protection for animals and fish, according to the Sargassum Information Hub. The size and direction of sargassum blobs can be affected by factors such as rain, wind conditions and changes in nutrients.
This year, the bloom could be the largest ever, spanning more than 5,000 miles from the shores of Africa to the Gulf of America. It has reportedly doubled in size between December and January. While sargassum can be a helpful ecosystem to animals and fish in water, it poses more environmental threats once it reaches land and beaches. Sargassum piles up in mounds and emits toxins and a horrid smell that can be harmful for the respiratory system. It can also wash up near shores and suck oxygen out of water, which can affect fish and other ocean life who live along shores.
The European Space Agency said the bloom was visible from space and was likely the largest seaweed bloom ever recorded, estimated the seaweed bloom weighed 13 million tons and was still growing. Sargassum originates in a vast stretch of the Atlantic Ocean called the Sargasso Sea, which lies well off the southeast U.S. The Sargasso has no land boundaries; instead, four prevailing ocean currents form its boundaries. The matted brown seaweed stretches for miles across the ocean and provides breeding ground, food and habitat for fish, sea turtles and marine birds, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA’S Lumpkin called it “one of the strongest years, but not the strongest” since scientists began closely observing the biomass via satellite imagery in 2011.
Seaweed Suggestions
Barack Obama walks into a bar, he is invisible but covered with stands of seaweed.
After attracting the bartender’s attention, the bartender asks: “Ok, I’ll bite. Why are you invisible?
Barack says: “Well, I found a bottle on the beach and…then I rubbed it.” “And then…importantly…A genie came out.” “The genie said I could have…3 wishes.”
As I thought about them, the first thing I said was, “Let me be clear…”
I was walking on the beach,
And this woman came up to me asking if I wanted to buy an island.
She was selling Seychelles by the sea shore.
I’m addicted to seaweed.
I must seek kelp.
What do the scuba-divers use to cut through the seaweed?
A sea-saw.
January 23rd Birthdays
1965 – Mariska Hargirtay, 1957 – Princess Caroline, 1974 -Tiffany Thiesen, 1993 – Sinead DeVries
1995 – J. T. Barrett, 1952 – Chesley Sullenberger, 1963 – Hakeem Olajuwon, 1888 – Lead Belly