USVI-On-Line

*Piled Higher and Deeper

What IS that? I noticed it all over the ocean as we were flying in today. Some rusty colored algae?

Sargassum, the free-floating seaweed that covers vast areas of the Sargasso Sea, in the middle of the Atlantic. The currents have been bringing more than usual the past 2-3 years, although there used to be fairly frequent visitations in the 1960s and 1970s.

Wow, that's a lot of washed up seaweed, and the comment "I noticed it all over the ocean as we were flying in today" suggests that the issue has been getting worse, not better, since we noticed and posted about it back in late September: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/virgi ... 46#p293853
It will be interesting to see if the sargassum subsides as the waters begin to cool. Reports from the Gulf of Mexico, Florida Keys, and throughout the Caribbean (including as far down the Windwards as Trinidad and Tobago) indicate that the amount of sargassum in 2014 is far higher than in many years, if ever.

FWIW, the global ocean surface temperature in October of 2014 set a new record, being the highest since record keeping began in 1880: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/2014/10
For that matter, the first ten months of 2014 set a record as being the warmest among ANY consecutive ten month period since 1880.

All the best,

Kevin

Hubby and I took a short 5 night cruise the last week of October. Out ports of call were Cozumel and Grand Cayman also 2 full days at sea. We continuously saw huge amounts floating there day after day. Also large masses going out of and back into Ft. Lauderdale.

Sherry

The good news is most of the other beaches we visited had little or no build-up on the beaches.