Scientists say a record amount of seaweed hit the Caribbean and nearby areas in May, with more expected

Scientists say a record amount of seaweed hit the Caribbean and nearby areas in May, with more expected Science Jun 3, 2025 12:37 PM EDT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A record amount of sargassum piled up across the Caribbean and nearby areas in May, and more is expected this month, according to a new report.

The brown prickly algae is suffocating shorelines from Puerto Rico to Guyana and beyond, disrupting tourism, killing wildlife and even releasing toxic gases that forced one school in the French Caribbean island of Martinique to temporarily close.

The amount — 38 million metric tons — is the biggest quantity of algae observed across the Caribbean Sea, the western and eastern Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico since scientists began studying the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt in 2011, s