Massive waves of toxic seaweed inundate Yucatan Peninsula beaches

It is the biggest algae bloom in the world: a 5,000-mile mass of seaweed stretching from Africa to the Caribbean. Across the Yucatan Peninsula, massive waves of the growth, called sargassum, are washing up on beaches day after day, and scientists are trying to figure out why. Jeff Glor reports.
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[@chuckhole]

So the seaweed is thriving on the stuff we shouldn't have put in the ocean. And we want to stop it? Insanity rules humanity.

[@whackamolechamp]

It's like the ocean is vomiting this up and trying to put the toxins back where they came from.

Greed and fear rule humanity.

[@ecuadorexpat8558]

Humans need to be wiped off the face of the Earth if this Planet wants to survive !

[@christopherschlacter4953]

@ Sad, but incredibly true.

[@24June91]

@ Only leftists like yourself are ruled by fear and greed.

[@rab6453]

man has always been his biggest problem.

[@theoldschooldiva374]

Humans have always been....

[@tribeofjosepht.i.community9977]

Greedy corporations are the problem along with the corrupted government corporations .

[@suzanneforasiepi3942]

​@@tribeofjosepht.i.community9977 global warming and climate change preach brother or sister 🙌👍💯

[@soylentgreen9492]

Coincidence that the Earth core stopped moving the same time the bloom?

[@moody_reckless6077]

We’re all gonna die. The grass hoppers went to Vegas.

[@suntoyfull64]

There has got to be a good use for it. It’s organic plant material and can be converted into fuel, fertilizer or used as a building material.

[@motube5]

We shall try to turn it into a source of methane like in marshes or landfill! But presence of lead and mercury like substance need to be addressed. Other option could be to load it on ships, take it back (and with some sort of tying to weights like rocks) and sink it where the ocean is deepest. I don’t if it could be turned into fertiliser or garden mulch etc.

[@susiea1419]

My thoughts exactly. Our ancestors used it for fertiliser and many still do in the U.K. a fantastic natural resource when the price of fertiliser has sky rocketed

[@NBflame]

Food, ecosystem, fertilizer, paper, beauty product ingredient, ect. Yes, there are many, many, many uses for it.

[@ShakaZoulou77]

@@motube5 Plenty of it sinks when cames the storms, which rushes it underwater a few feet, enough for the pressure expel all air in it.

[@MrRedScorpion1]

It's washing ashore in West Palm Beach now.

[@silvermist9644]

😂🤣😂

[@Ryan-jx4vh]

I just left St Thomas a part of the US Virgin Islands and they were hit by it too.

[@unholyanimeguru5836]

Run on sentence.

[@woabeatz9717]

How much cost for trip?

[@missingremote4388]

3 years ago, still the problem still exists

[@jonbigman9723]

Yes and this could be stopped by going after the companies pouring the fuel on this fire. But what do I know...

[@V0YAG3R]

Yes, companies like Africa, where the map clearly shows it's coming from exclusively. Tras de ladrón, bufón.

[@DrCrabfingers]

Your point is entirely valid.

[@jamesb.9155]

Leaving Brazil to safeguard uniquely valuable land and forest environments is like letting a roulette wheel decide the world's future.

[@deaconguidry3514]

Nature's filtering, it's not toxic, they just want the locals to think it's toxic. It can be rinsed and turned into compost or put into a container, after a good rinsing, add water and cover container. In a few months you will have some of the best fertilizer you have ever seen. Your plants will grow stronger and bigger than ever before. We are being told there is a shortage of fertilizer? Why...

[@untermench3502]

This is a good example of recycling: Fertilizer grows plants, which people and animals eat, their waste goes into the ocean, the sargassum uses the waste and winds-up on the beach to make more fertilizer.

[@susiea1419]

Well said. Humans are so wasteful!

[@GWills-ys6rd]

The world has lost the battle with Sargassum. They may be able to contain it, but you can't escape the smell.

[@ShakaZoulou77]

I think Nature doesn't care about smell, neither the living organism thriving on it. Nature found an away to capture wasted fertilizers and CO2, without the need of carbon taxes.

[@GWills-ys6rd]

Tourists need to be aware of this.

[@iammelvadixon5164]

I’m in Miami Beach fl right now and there are massive amounts of it washed up on shore right now!!!

[@tjtampa214]

It washed up in Tampa in some high water ditches a couple of years ago. I was shocked when I saw it and didn't know what it was.

[@Scottielargo]

I live on an island south of Key West that was recently washed over by Ian. The hurricane washed out a lot of shore line structure, Mangroves, Grape Seed, and Palm trees. I look forward to the arrival of this weed. It helps give the sand on the shoreline the organic matter it needs to regrow these trees especially Mangroves. These trees help protect against storm wash. For a feel good, instead of going to the beach, go to the shoreline and pick some plastic, it's everywhere. After you are done you will feel good. Then tell your neighbor about it.

[@ChelseaSierraK.]

It's toxic, but you keep grabbing handfuls of it, and walking around in it barefoot.

[@Christina_320]

Chrisara xo Ikr 🙄🙄

[@DrCrabfingers]

It contains heavy metals that are released as it degrades....I guess you wouldn't want to walk around barefoot in it when it was rotten pulp. It also contains a lot of compounds that have been found to be enormously beneficial however.

[@NBflame]

And if you clean it you can eat it. The seaweed is food, an ecosystem, fertilizer, people use it in beauty products, ect. They are saying it is toxic to keep people away from this wonderful resource! Do your own research people!

[@MR-op3mo]

Sargassum has arsenic, isn't that unhealthy to make bricks with them to build homes?

[@untermench3502]

Arsenic isn't a problem unless you eat it.

[@silentvoiceinthedark5665]

NO

[@darthvader5300]

BIOGAS! Harvest the sargassum seaweeds and put them into biogas fermenters to produce methane rich biogas.

[@neanderthaloutdoors5299]

There have to be an economically viable use for this.

[@geraldsutton9981]

Somebody ought to try composting it. I hear sea weed has a lot of nitrogen in it.

[@Sweetearth1958]

@@geraldsutton9981 It's full of toxic metals, no you don't want to farm with it.

[@geraldsutton9981]

@@superstopmotionstoryperson2172 Will not burning it, release the toxic metals into the air, to be breathed in...????

[@jamalcole1985]

@@geraldsutton9981 Somebody has a green thumb.

[@alisonstrieker4181]

@@geraldsutton9981 did you not hear the part where there is arsenic and heavy metals in this seaweed?

[@noneyours3237]

It happens every year on my native island of Martinique in the Caribbean.

[@huverdoose]

The day after Irma, the beach near me in Antigua was buried in the stuff.

[@Ish4MyIggans]

Sarcasm is deadly.

[@varietasVeritas]

Lead and arsenic? Where did they come from?

[@1980process]

THE PATTERN OF THE SEA WEED IS THE SAME PATH HURRICANES TAKE WHEN THEY HEAD TOWARDS THE U.S . THIS PROBLEM IS 100% MAN MADE

[@ethanallen2889]

Furious Rivera ....😂Hi Stupid! 🖐️

[@AlishaRoseWilson]

Stop yelling

[@yeezusybarra]

Just wait until mother natural has enough of us all & destroys human kind

[@xs_17gh88]

Satan Ybarra fAkE nEwS

[@bhoney1988]

@@xs_17gh88 it's coming a lot sooner than people realize

[@xs_17gh88]

B Honey you know I was being sarcastic right

[@bhoney1988]

@@xs_17gh88 I'm not sure anyone can tell these days🤣

[@bhoney1988]

@Mag you wouldn't want to live through it

[@brendaseigler3923]

Lake Champlain in New York and Lake Erie in Pa. has the problem as well. It is blue and toxic.

[@Conservativeblackman]

Not the same species and that particular algae bloom is from pollution from those Democrat controlled cities in the Northeast. The people who keep blaming it on global warming are the same nasty people who throw their trash on the ground and dump their trash in the rivers. Look at your Liberal run cities and the Truth comes out.

[@micahgelfand8282]

It's not the same thing. But yes toxic algae blooms are an increasing big problem

[@Enviotonin85]

Its funny how people throw inland waste into the ocean and ocean waste onto land.

[@DrCrabfingers]

😂

[@bowlampar]

Sargassum busting ship is deployed by Mexican Navy to counter its invasion. Wow! Really amazing. 😮

[@bowlampar]

@pa_2600 You can't actually bomb 'Sargassum' into extinction, you need cleaning crew ship not Navy warship. 😁🤣😁

[@summerrain3251]

Holy shhh that’s a lot of seaweed 🙀

[@Christina_320]

Cataleya Pyro Too bad it’s not Mary J.

[@malsprower]

Humans won't listen and learn until everything and everyone is dead, we are that dense as a species.

[@LarryCleveland]

I was just there. The stench was nauseating when I got into Playa Del Carmen. I got used to it. We are masters at polluting ourselves out of a home and don't even bat an eye lash.

[@Conservativeblackman]

It's not pollution, it's a reoccurring event that's been happening forever. It's the best fertilizer to mix in the soil of your garden and it's not from global warming as some scientists suggest. That's just another drum for climate change. The reason for the smell is all those valuable nutrients that are being released as the decomposition happens. My family has been using sargassum to fertilize our gardens for years and once it's mixed into the soil, the smell disappears. Embrace what you don't understand because it's actually a gift if you use it beneficially.

[@staticbuilds7613]

@@Conservativeblackman More like it's been happening for a little over a decade now and gets worst each year, speeding to area where it has never reached before

[@nigelhinds7356]

same problem here in Jamaica

[@brendaseigler3923]

We have it starting up in fresh water & salt water in the U.S.A.

[@timeWaster76]

As food Japanese cuisine as well as Chile have traditionally consumed Sargassum, known as hijiki, although it contains high amounts of arsenic, part of the arsenic cycle from groundwater, waterways, into oceans and back to land. There are methods to process and greatly reduce arsenic from this genus of seaweed, potentially making it a nearly inexhaustible food supply for animals or people.

[@scottprather5645]

Interesting it would certainly be ideal if the sargasm could be utilized for food source

[@jaridkeen123]

We have to stop using Fossil Fuels!

[@HappyFunnyCute]

so 2021...pretty much the ocean cleaning up the mess, and giving it back to the perps...that is all

[@snuggleskie]

This interviewer seems so condescending to the locals.

[@renomarquez28]

That what I thought as well

[@crazychicSHENA]

The earth seems sick 😐

[@ShariffTucker]

Crazy Chick Shena What’s your IG?

[@szacharyf]

It *IS* on Florida beaches!! Not like this but we are experiencing way more than normal. Beaches are polluted with this seaweed and the cities can’t afford to clean it up!

[@ShakaZoulou77]

Right, lagae that capture wasted fertilizers and CO2 is pollution now, just because some turists can enjoy to work for tan.

[@egyptson9428]

the ocean said.... take back your lead!

[@hayward022]

We need more.

[@JayJay-xr8ds]

"Nobody really knows what to do with it" But you just saw a dude built a house...

[@SkyPilot54]

Excellent fertilizer

[@mcox8829]

I thought sargassum was supposed to be funny?

[@pedromata3931]

That's terrible 😂

[@nicolahudson1213]

We better get on it quickly on better ways to stop polluting the environment

[@ShakaZoulou77]

Leave sargassum to thrive and capturing wasted fertilizers and exccess CO2, is the way Nature is taking care of pollution. Nature doesn't care you can't work to your tan.

[@nenettesilver]

If they can make good use of the sargassum seaweeds, it is a useful way of eliminating and controlling the sargassum from invading the clean beaches of MX.

[@mikeletterst9882]

Feed it to our politicians

[@rorytennes8576]

so the seaweed collects lead out of the water. that would be a good thing.

[@johnengland8619]

Until it shows up on the beach, that's a bad thing

[@michaeld954]

Its kind of good because the seaweed is cleaning the ocean if it collecting the heavy metals, just have to built a disposal plant to remove the toxins and burn the seaweed off or load it onto boat's and ship it out to someone who can do it

[@christianmandigo5108]

It’s toxic and it’s estimated at 22 million tons. I’m sorry my friend this is the beginning of “global warming” aka Gods Judgment

[@DrCrabfingers]

I think drying it and using it for bio-fuel could be an answer....the toxins can be removed during combustion, we already have that technology.

[@tawanaturner8854]

@@christianmandigo5108 EXACTLY!!!! 2023 ITS HERE NOW.. BIG TIME!!!!

[@iamedyson]

​@@DrCrabfingers I didn't know that information. That's cool! Spread the word.

[@rorytennes8576]

is it alge or seaweed ? there is a differnce.

[@benjamindejonge3624]

It make great pellets for the stove and garden

[@vicfrom47]

Very sargasmic

[@williamcuttsii8606]

I was just there it's so bad

[@edwardfoehring8827]

What can we use it for ? Fuel base stock fertilizer, has to be somthing !

[@24June91]

Building bricks

[@Lu-cho]

😱😱😱 I'm WATCHING this 2023 FLORIDA. Was thinking this is 2023 Report/news. 😬😬😬

[@ezmoney6341]

Give it some time Im sure the McDonald’s can find a way to incorporate this into the food chain. If they can make a bottom feeding fish with eyes on one side of its heads into a delicious sandwich anything is possible.

[@fleaflicker1451]

Awww but halibut is delicious! 🐟

[@edwinsutton5076]

Woah! God made flounder and I doubt it has ever been in a mickyD sandwich. One the size of a plate sells for $25 on the beach

[@edwinsutton5076]

And I've never seen a fisherman sell even one they catch.

[@michelbisson6645]

I need it all

[@jamesthomas7928]

If it's spread out and rain washed it is the most potent fertilizer.

[@Yoona_lim_husband_potus]

I'm happy

[@dadsonworldwide3238]

It was nothing like this when i was in cancun .but even then they went out about 4 am and used machines to clear the beach fof the day.

[@Spiderman-tg9ke]

Like the man said it's necessary for the Ocean's ecosystem but too much is too much. Too bad it's not distributed by itself all over the oceans and not on shores

[@ShakaZoulou77]

Who decide that is to much. Turism sector which are losing revenue. Nature isn't complaning, just compare the quantity of living organisms thriving on it against sandy beaches empty of sargasso

[@mariafarfan3398]

Why?????

[@saave47]

thanks

[@cooterswift916]

this reporter is kinda annoying

[@bitbugsbyte]

Are we thinking this is from fertilizer runoff? Why does the Ocean have so much new fertilizer? Where are the heavy metals coming from?

[@dondroc1]

Recent floods in the grain belt of USA washed all the newly applied fertilizers down the drain.

[@user-hp6se6uf6b]

It's already everywhere in America especially down south

[@jamalcole1985]

Mother nature. It is what it is

[@anonymousjoker946]

It makes oxygen

[@woabeatz9717]

Can we use as fertilzer...

[@Sweetearth1958]

No. It's full of toxic metals. In the plant.

[@woabeatz9717]

@@Sweetearth1958 compose it?

[@XxProJ3ct3dSoulXx]

Yes you can

[@tr7b410]

Warmer waters+fertilizer,s create a perfect environment for these sea-weeds to proliferate.

[@andrewvillanueva3722]

Looks best to put out nets in front of the beaches to get before it gets to land.

[@ReneChewbaka]

I'm hoping a billion tons of it washes up on Florida's coastlines and knocks some sense into that state..

[@johnnull5315]

Beginning of the video I was thinking :''There must be a way of utilizing it''. then 3:25 well there you go...Edit Get Pewdiepie to build a giant sagassum meatball tower.

[@silentvoiceinthedark5665]

They are already using seaweed to make jet fuel. Most of these sky is falling stories are just BS. I would think if you can harvest this stuff, it is a great source of carbon capture. Why isn't Gretta toontown out there with a rake?

[@Cresent-city]

If it's too, what would it do if u live in it.

[@IamINERT]

Can they have any alternative use?

[@healingv1sion]

I wonder if the toxic metals can be removed for industrial use. They are toxic to us but could be useful elsewhere in society

[@veganwinter2090]

Purification of Earth Waters is a big need, as such, and our Veganic bodies also benefit from seaweed in diet to purify. Indo-seaweed system could tell us more when we find it...perhaps showing us how to end paralysis and other moral backbone needs with greater degrees of purity and Veganic and better diet/lifestyles. Indo-...

[@infiniteadam7352]

They need a cotton module builder. That way they could pack it into a cube, much more efficient to move.

[@clarenceawalker1873]

If there's a how there's a way to dispose of it or actually use it to our advantage. Something has to be done about it.

[@Joedoeswhat]

If its toxic contaminated and has no use for now use incinerators has to be cheaper then a long draw out clean up that will cost 10x the amout

[@publiccharge3847]

The guy making bricks is impressive. They need to process it in multiple ways.

[@functionalvanconversion4284]

It would be great if we distilled it and extracted the metals, so you could decontaminate the oceans. What a pipe dream🤔?

[@nodatastored684]

So, it is migrating north... In the tides

[@brendatenorio5721]

Smart woman.

[@katieg3461]

We all need to take care of our home, planet 🌎

[@brendaseigler3923]

We should of been doing that !

[@christianmandigo5108]

It’s too late the world is crying out. Blame the worlds leaders, prepare for the end my friend

[@katieg3461]

Josh Smith no can do. There are always miracles. I wish you a wonderful life. 💐

[@mikerockwood4475]

What can the seaweed be good for ?

[@ninehundreddollarluxuryyac5958]

Its removing carbon from the atmosphere and also cleaning all that lead and heavy metals out of the ocean. There must be quarries and old mines that represent big holes we've dug and need filling in. Why not search for sites like that close to the beaches where you want to get rid of seaweed? Its something to fill in that big hole, and after a while, it will rot down a bit, making room for more.

[@josemilian4167]

like that man found use for it. I'd read that wind carries soil from northern Africa into ocean as well, promoting growth of certain plants wonder if it's also a contributor of this problem.

[@aaabbbccc985]

We have a lot of problems that come from Africa

[@jenniferlorence1950]

This is SAD.

[@richardatchison5296]

Can it be used as fertilizers

[@raopsepol]

it has poisonous heavy metals like arsenic. so no it cant.

[@BigAdam010606]

DANG

[@msain427]

@4:37 passed out on beach? Nice tan but forgot to roll ovrr?

[@podocrypto6072]

This is from all the phosphates and nitrogen used in agriculture in South, Central and North Americas, whereas the products are used in farm fields and even grassy plains, including residential lawns, and then run offs from the rains wash it into the oceans and causes these huge algae blooms, which include Sargassum, Red Tide and Blue-Green algae.

[@saywhat951]

Johnny Go Hut is the best way to describe the smell for 6 months of the year its not the Riviera Maya its the Riviera Sewage!!

[@JeevesReturns]

😢

[@sammyvh11]

Mexico has a navy.....wow

[@jogmas12]

sammyvh11 they always had a navy, where you been, cave?

[@johnfink69]

I can’t wait until someone says we can pay to fix this with no results! Again?

[@ArtstradaMagazine]

looks like a new energy resource. use it

[@sheilacampbell4373]

Purify it and feed your people, animals, and plants. "Manna" is a blessing, so be hungry no more!

[@byranmoore2257]

use it for plant soil to grow things on land plz

[@NoOneHere2Day]

Did you not hear it was toxic?

[@brendaseigler3923]

It has a toxic bacteria in it.

[@JayyyNoZ]

I thought I time traveled 😮

[@Bob-bm1fk]

It helps restore the beaches. Blowing sand is trapped in it. Buiiding dunes.

[@randystone4903]

Extra carbon in the air is also great fertilizer. It's a natural booster of the seaweed's explosive growth. This will also affect sport and commercial fisheries when they can't fish during this bloom.

[@susiea1419]

Nothing to do with carbon it’s warming seas

[@ShakaZoulou77]

Amazing all the climate models from scientific ''consensus'' didn't predict these kind of huge blooms, neither the quantity of living organisms thriving on it.

[@noname_0057]

1. Stop dumping trash into the ocean. 2. Stop spilling oil into the ocean 3. The seaweed should be incinerated in an incinerator that has a filter system to filter out the toxic smoke from burning and turn it into non toxic steam.

[@daviddalby9699]

Use it for compost ???