The Sargassum Invasion Has Begun
byDori Saltzman/伟大的大西洋萨尔加斯(Sargassum Belt),这是一个巨大的5,000英里长的Sargassum Seaweed,Travel Market Report首次报告beplay客服reported on last month, is starting to make landfall in Florida, the Caribbean, and parts of Mexico.
According to an interactive map on sargassummonitoring.com, piles of seaweed have already hit several beaches in Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, and Quintana Roo-area beaches including tourist hotspots in Cancun and Playa del Carmen, as well as on beaches along Cozumel, a popular stop on cruise itineraries.
The situation along these beaches, and others, are only expected to worsen as spring progresses into summer. A March 31 report from the南佛罗里达大学光学海洋学实验室估计海藻的延伸约为1300万吨,这是一年中这个时候的记录。
"In the central West Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico, Sargassum quantity all exceeded the 75th percentile for the same month between 2011 and 2022 but did not reach the historical record," the report reads.
随着萨尔加苏姆(Sargassum)的数量预计会增加(可能成为有史以来最大的记录),预计在整个赛季(通常从3月至10月)中预计“重大海滩活动”。
Already, Fort Lauderdale is seeing more sargassum than it usually does. As of last week, Fort Lauderdale's park service removed approximately 920 yards of seaweed from beaches this year, said Park Operations Superintendent, Mark Almy. When compared to the same time period last year, it only needed to remove 282 yards. So far, no beaches have needed to be shut down.
Sargassum has also appeared on beaches in the Florida Keys, but a spokesperson for the Keys told TMR this week that the amount washing ashore is not yet any different from previous years. The Keys said it is ready to deal with the amount that is coming ashore right now, and an increased amount that could possibly come ashore at a later date.
The City of Key West, for instance, employs a beach cleaning contractor that cleans beaches every day, according to Public Information Officer Alyson Crean. Oceanside hotels also typically employ their own staff or contractors to deal with removal.
Travel Advisor Take
Though the seaweed itself is harmless to humans, it can pose a danger to native flora and fauna, and becomes a smelly, offensive mess as it accumulates – and decays – on beaches.
Inteletravel关联公司Boxley Enterprise Travel的所有者Darryl Jenkins解释说:“随着它的干扰,它具有一个非常刺激的恶臭。”
詹金斯(Jenkins)告诉TMR,只要有可能,他就会咨询坎昆海滩(Cancun Beaches)的地图,以查看萨尔加苏姆(Sargassum)在选择求职者送往客户之前更有可能在哪里找到。他还试图将客户带到替代全包中的替代地点,例如多米尼加共和国或牙买加,那里的萨尔加苏姆季节较短且温和。
"Being a natural phenomenon, it's completely out of anyone's control," added Nichole Patrick, owner of Traverse The Earth Travel, LLC, an independent agency in the Avoya network. However, like Jenkins, she knows what the safer places are to send clients.
"There are so many areas that are 'less' affected by it. An example in Mexico would be the Playa/Costa Mujeres area north of the Hotel Zone in Cancun that has Isla Mujeres to catch the majority of Sargassum that floats through the area. For the Dominican Republic, La Romana is around the 'bend' of the island, thus catches less of the annoying seaweed."