Sargassum seaweed annoys residents
Sargassum seaweed is once again paying its annual visit to the Virgin Islands, causing much disruption in the tourism and fishing industries.
Residents who like to enjoy the beaches at this time of year are also being affected by the plant which foul-smelling, unsightly, and tends to cloud the clear, pristine waters of the territory.
Local marine biologist Argel Horton said the sargassum impacting the community migrated from the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt.
She said the belt spans across 500 miles and lies between Africa and South America. The expert added that persons should note that sargassum multiplies fast with warm waters. This means the BVI and other Caribbean countries are perfect for sargassum where temperatures continue to soar above normal levels at this time of year.
Horton noted that satellite tracking instruments show that the influx of sargassum will continue but the volume will be moderate until October 2023.
She also noted that although sargassum is a challenging issue, creative ways could be found to tackle this problem.
Acting Deputy Secretary in the Ministry Natural Resources and Climate Change, Mervin Hastings agrees with Horton’s position.
He said the BVI and Caribbean neighbours must endeavour to find creative ways to deal with sargassum as it continues to patronize the region yearly.
“Many of our Caribbean counterparts have successfully produced products utilising sargassum such as fertilisers, beauty products and biofuel, just to name a few. I am confident in our people’s ability to brainstorm and come up with solutions and rise above this issue where we can turn sargassum into a valuable commodity,” Hastings noted.
Earlier this year, representatives from multiple organisations including the BVI Tourist Board, National Parks Trust of the Virgin Islands, Unite BVI and BVI Ports Authority attended a two-day trainer’s workshop in where people are trained on sargassum management.
The training was a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change; the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) and the University of the West Indies Centre for Resources Management and Environmental Studies (UWI-CERMES).
The focus was also to increase understanding of the science of sargassum, its origins and ecological value, the principles of adaptive management, selection of tools and approaches for monitoring, and the clean-up and the rehabilitation of affected areas.
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So what is the plan on controlling the sargassum?
Can you stop the oocean from coming in ? Itcould be diverted but not stop this is God work. Pray When a nation of people forget God they become foolish.
Sargassum increases in the BVI due to government corruption. When the corruption is gone the sargassum will leave the BVI.
The amount of weed appearing on the ocean’s surfcae from the deep, correlates directly to, and most significantly, also indicates and predicts the type and furiosity of the hurricane phenomenon and season.
The warmer the water, the greater the production of the weed. Hence, excessive weed indicates warm to unusually warm water.
Warm water is the fuel that triggers the wind increase, which then triggers all the other elements of the phenomenon.
Just had a dip on the water at Long Bay Beef island and saw lots. Plastic cups and plates, 2 pairs of shoes (across half a mile!), socks, 6 vest tops, trunks, 3 towel (2 from j’ouvert) . The same people tutting over the sargassum are making the ocean nasty.
We depend heavily on tourism and this seaweed just stinking up the place. But knowing us if we got to try and tackle it we gonna just turn it into another multi-million dollar scandal; probably end up spending 2 million in 2 weeks then still got to worry about how it getting clean next month or some other BVI craziness like that.
We have spoken with USVI about the sargassum and they have decided it’s not an issue they choose to spend money on. We can eliminate the sargassum from reaching shore and convert the sargassum into renewable energy for the island.
Research the use of sargassum, and get up off your butt, feed your ignorant brains and build the economy from what you deem to be an annoyance.
Sargassum can be captured before reaching the beach as is now being done in Dominican Republic and then be converted into valuable products such as various chemicals, biogas for electricity and fertilizer.