New Sargassum System Takes Aim At A Troublesome Seaweed
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https://www.usf.edu/marine-science/news/2025/new-sargassum-system-takes-aim-at-a-troublesome-seaweed.aspx <-- shared article
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https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/developing-an-operational-sargassum-hab-monitoring-and-forecasting-system-for-the-southeastern-u-s-and-u-s-caribbean/ <-- shared technical article
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#GIS #spatial #mapping #remotesensing #satellite #fedscience #earthobservation #Caribbean #florida #puertorico #USVI #seaweed #Sargassum #risk #hazard #damage #impact #cleanup #removal #cost #economics #fisheries #tourism #mitigation #spatialanalysis #detection #spatiotemporal #marine #algal #algalbloom #SargassumWatchSystem #costsaving #inundation #imagery #harmfulalgalbloom #HAB #biomass
@NOAA

Japanese Wireweed (Sargassum muticum)
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Japanese_Wireweed_(Sargassum_muticum)_-_Stavanger,_Norway_2021-08-03.jpg

#Copernicus for #water quality monitoring
#Sargassum blooms are continuing to reach the shores of the Caribbean islands &amp; affect their beaches
On 25 June, #Copernicus #Sentinel2 captured a swath of sargassum several km long approaching the east coast of Dominica Island https://t.co/GabR2ncbQK

: https://n.respublicae.eu/CopernicusEU/status/1673609465759690752

RT @CMEMS_EU: DYK
#Sargassum can cause serious harm to the marine environment & tourism industry

Our #CopernicusMarine Service is funding the SODA research project, paving the way for new products for monitoring and response to sargassum invasions

Read more at https://marine.copernicus.eu/news/sargassum-invasion-combating-seaweed-crisis-copernicus-marine-data https://t.co/sVPnvQfWI0

: https://n.respublicae.eu/CopernicusEU/status/1666519979099824165

Where woke flesh-eating bacteria infested seaweed mobs go to die:

"Clumps of 5,000-mile seaweed blob bring flesh-eating bacteria to Florida

(...)The alarming discovery by marine biologists at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) lends a dangerous new aspect to the brown seaweed onslaught, which is already threatening to spoil the state’s busy summer tourism season as coatings of decaying goop exude a pungent aroma akin to that of rotting eggs.

Even more worrying, the researchers say, is the role of ocean pollution in the proliferation of the bacteria, which can cause disease and death if a person gets infected. Samples tested from the Caribbean and Sargasso Sea within the Atlantic were abundant with plastic debris, which interacted with the algae and bacteria to create a “perfect pathogen storm [with] implications for both marine life and public health”."

: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/03/sargassum-seaweed-algae-florida-bacteria-vibrio

Here is part of a 5,000 mile long load of contaminated seaweed hitting Fla and other places in the Caribbean

It’s been given its own name now, since it’s a Thing

Why is this lady walking through it, though?

#seaweed #sargassum #WhatIsHappening

https://www.newsweek.com/seaweed-flesh-eating-bacteria-florida-sargassum-1803326

#Florida researchers find ‘high amounts’ of flesh-eating bacteria in #Sargassum

by Dylan Abad, May 30, 2023

"A new study from Florida Atlantic University is uncovering how the seaweed interacts with plastic debris and Vibrio bacteria to create the 'perfect pathogen storm' for beachgoers and marine life.

"Samples collected by FAU revealed that Vibrio pathogens had harnessed the unique ability to 'stick' to #microplastics within the seaweed blob. The findings further showed that some #Vibrio bacteria had an ‘omnivorous’ lifestyle that targeted both plant and animal hosts.

"'Another interesting thing we discovered is a set of genes called ‘zot’ genes, which causes leaky gut syndrome,' said assistant professor Tracy Mincer, Ph.D.

"For instance, if a fish eats a piece of plastic and gets infected by this Vibrio, which then results in a leaky gut and diarrhea, it’s going to release waste nutrients such nitrogen and phosphate that could stimulate Sargassum growth and other surrounding organisms.

"Simply put, the combination of the bacteria and microplastics could be responsible, in part, for the rapid growth of Sargassum."

#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Extinction #Oceans

https://www.wfla.com/news/florida/florida-researchers-find-high-amounts-of-flesh-eating-bacteria-in-sargassum/

RT @DLR_SpaceAgency: Algenplage in der #Karibik
Die Braunalge #Sargassum breitet sich durch Überdüngung, Abholzung & Klimawandel von Jahr zu Jahr schlimmer im Karibischen Meer aus.
Die Nutzung von Satellitendaten ermöglicht die bessere Überwachung der Algen-Invasion. #Raumfahrt
: @CopernicusEU https://t.co/IrUuHp1T9O

: https://n.respublicae.eu/CopernicusEU/status/1652627844122525697

Union of Concerned Scientists: The Hidden Costs of #IndustrialAgriculture

Published Jul 11, 2008 Updated Aug 24, 2008

Industrial farming is bad for the health of workers, eaters, and downstream neighbors. Here are some of its costly health impacts:

• #Pesticide toxicity. #Herbicides and #insecticides commonly used in agriculture have been associated with both acute poisoning and long-term chronic illness.

• Water #pollution from #fertilizer runoff contaminates downstream drinking water supplies, requiring costly cleanup measures with an annual price tag of nearly $2 billion.

• Loss of mid-sized #farms. Once the backbone of US agriculture, medium-sized farms are a dwindling breed, which means that fewer and fewer people make their living as farmers—a trend that has been bad for the economies of rural communities and farm states.

• Harm to neighboring and downstream economies. Industrial agriculture can pack an economic wallop hundreds of miles from its origin—just ask local governments and utility managers who must install expensive equipment to remove fertilizer by-products from public drinking water supplies. Or ask people who make their living from fisheries or tourism on the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere, where "dead zones" and toxic #algae blooms caused by farm runoff do damage with an annual price tag in the billions. CAFOs, too, create pollution problems that reduce livability and depress property values in surrounding communities.

#ClimateCrisis #Pollutants #Pesticides #ClimateChange #RedTide #Sargassum #BigAg #Runoff #WaterIsLife #Biodiversity #RedTide #Sargassum #DeadZones

Read more: https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/hidden-costs-industrial-agriculture

#Copernicus for #water quality monitoring

A mass of #sargassum has formed in the Atlantic Ocean, invading the shores of the Caribbean Sea, washing up on beaches & affecting tourism

#Sentinel2 image on 14 March showing seaweed west of St Vincent and the Grenadines Island

: https://n.respublicae.eu/CopernicusEU/status/1637402022281453569

#ImageOfTheDay

In the past few days, #sargassum invaded many coastlines of the Caribbean Sea

The ongoing bloom (the largest in years) is causing serious damage to the #tourism industry

On 14 March, #Sentinel2 captured banks of these algae floating off #Martinique

: https://n.respublicae.eu/defis_eu/status/1636755684791386113

Massive Blob Of Seaweed coming onshore "scientists say it will then begin to rot, emitting toxic fumes and fouling the region’s beaches over the busiest summer months." #Monster #Seaweed #Blob #sargassum (NYTimes, paywall but gift linked)
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/us/seaweed-blob-florida-mexico.html?unlocked_article_code=_KiZ29nqEUPZZQu609dE6p2b35T3lqrXWUO4JZqrVihYF6nZ0piMUeMmHJIhUHRJwSYv733dxyxf16GekDKa_ofQHF1Z-zZ2CkdaAREypCsbN9vnqmR5YlUG6UIEiyt2dcPyuX4BVxp_Y3c5NYDtDQbfw6w8sxO-VxmlpUXa3Db0M79vzvNLgOydyTAiHeDLhYCVOVsFBewaoAfDG6ni7ta_5xAVm3wAAR5pOJq-o-RKLgkVUACcie72R6j-6F834pvOsLhjk9Denxp_ebV6JZGGnutGB86_chNE4axtD3BMRh5Ch1eumfCRt8GJ05Yw_QAX7jrVHlJJVcSqRFkcQQ&smid=url-share

RT @SASAMS_EO: Early season #sargassum already making an appearance off #Guadeloupe in these @CopernicusEU #Sentinel2 false colour infrared images and also impacting the coast. The large accumulation near the university campus seems to have disperse by 12th March. @SargassumP @BARSC_EO #eochat

: https://n.respublicae.eu/CopernicusEU/status/1635385951013982208

RT @DrGeoffSmith: Hi everyone!!
Check out the entries in the great satellite image contest from @CloudFerro 'Seize the beauty of our Planet' 2022
In particular, "Golden Tide Rising by Geoff"!
#sargassum @copernicus #Sentinel-2
https://pollunit.com/en/lightboxes/seize-the-beauty-of-our-planet-2022?option_id=2770284

: https://n.respublicae.eu/CopernicusEU/status/1614336571733409792

RT @CMEMS_EU: #CopernicusMarine use case

#DYK about the high impact of #sargassum blooms on #tourism and #fishing zones in the equatorial Atlantic, the Caribbean & the Gulf of Mexico
 
Our products support detection and monitoring activities

Read more on https://marine.copernicus.eu/services/use-cases/real-time-satellite-detection-and-drift-forecast-sargassum-algae-equatorial

: https://n.respublicae.eu/CopernicusEU/status/1613445518293622785

RT @defis_eu: #ImageOfTheDay

The #Caribbean Sea is affected by massive amounts of toxic algae that are causing serious damage to the #tourism industry and to #biodiversity

On 1 August, #Copernicus #Sentinel2 captured banks of these algae (#sargassum) floating off #Barbados

: https://nitter.eu/defis_eu/status/1556005940725485568

RT @defis_eu: #ImageOfTheDay

The #Caribbean Sea is affected by massive amounts of toxic algae that are causing serious damage to the #tourism industry and to #biodiversity

On 1 August, #Copernicus #Sentinel2 captured banks of these algae (#sargassum) floating off #Barbados

: https://nitter.eu/CopernicusEU/status/1555935586858541058

#ImageOfTheDay

The #Caribbean Sea is affected by massive amounts of toxic algae that are causing serious damage to the #tourism industry and to #biodiversity

On 1 August, #Copernicus #Sentinel2 captured banks of these algae (#sargassum) floating off #Barbados

: https://nitter.eu/defis_eu/status/1555884499656925184