Gulf of Mexico to West Africa: Record-high bloom of Sargassum
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TransAtlantic Sailors preparing for departure this Fall should take note of the significantly high coverage of Sargassum weed in the central West Atlantic this year. Monitoring of the Satellite-based Sargassum Watch System (SaWS) is highly recommended.
Last Update - July 15, 2019
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- Cruising yacht stuck in sargasso off Guadeloupe in 2014, courtesy of thelifenomadik.com
The spread of Sargassum this year across the Atlantic may well affect your routing choices if embarking on a cross-Atlantic passage this Fall.
Scientists have called this record bloom the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt.
Noonsite has been reporting on the increase in Sargassum in the Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea for the last 4 years since the spread of this weed has started to affect offshore sailors as well as many Caribbean Island beaches.
Further Information:
Outlook of 2019 Sargassum blooms in the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico
June 30th, 2019, by University of South Florida Optical Oceanography Lab
Scientists discover the biggest seaweed bloom in the world
July 4th, 2019, by Science Daily
More information and near real-time imagery can be found under the Sargassum Watch System (SaWS, https://optics.marine.usf.edu/projects/saws.html )
Related Reports from Noonsite:
Caribbean: Sargassum coverage significantly higher than most years since 2011 (Feb 2019)
Support Research and Help Track Caribbean Seaweed (Nov 2018)
Heading to the Caribbean this Fall? Find out about Sargassum….. (Aug 2018)
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