Seaweed season in Florida: Photos, videos show gross brown blob that is sargassum
There's only one word a beachgoer would use to describe sargassum, the brown sometimes crunchy-sometimes soggy seaweed: Bleah!
Raise your hand if you saw a big blob of sargassum on the beach and avoided it by stepping on hot pointy shells rather than set foot on the springy, smelly, brown clusters of seaweed.
Should the sargassum stop you from a beach visit? Definitely not. Florida beaches are still postcard-worthy when it comes to natural wonders, despite the dry brown crusty blob.
What is sargassum seaweed? What does it look like in Florida?
Sargassum is a species of large brown seaweed, a type of macroalgae that floats in large masses.
On some beaches in Florida, the "blobs" of crunchy, dry, brown stinky seaweed are fairly large. In one of our photo galleries, you'll see a small "mountain" of sargassum seaweed, and a black dog posing next to it. It's in the water, on the shore, surrounding beachgoers who just want to play in the sand.
When is 'sargassum seaweed season' in Florida?
Sargassum seaweed tends to appear in Florida beaches in the spring, with a peak in June.
Seaweed 'blobs' in Florida. Is sargassum dangerous to humans?
In the water, sargassum is considered harmless to people.
On land, sargassum begins to rot and produces smelly hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, which can irritate eyes, ears, and noses. People with asthma or other breathing illnesses may have trouble breathing if they inhale too much of it.
In open areas like beaches, however, moving air usually dilutes the gas to non-harmful levels.
The seaweed also contains tiny sea creatures, such as jellyfish larvae, that can irritate your skin on contact.
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Contributing: George Petras and Jennifer Borresen, USA TODAY; Adam Neal, TCPalm
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network-Florida. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Seaweed blob: Where and when will sargassum hit Florida beaches?
