JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — Ahead of the holiday weekend, if you’re heading to the beach, you’ll want to look out for Sargassum. The seaweed algae has washed up along several parts of our coasts, creating a terrible smell.
Action News Jax Chief Meteorologist explains it’s come earlier than usual.
“This is unseasonably early and it might be related to the warmer than average ocean temperatures that we have,” Buresh said.
He says it usually peaks in the fall season.
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“This year and some previous years too, we’ve had a really large fields of these seaweed beds, sargassum, that has been moving over the Atlantic, Caribbean, parts of the Gulf,” Buresh said.
If the winds are just right, it’ll end up on our beaches.
“You couldn’t walk down here it was so bad,” said Kathleen Lewis. She’s lived near the beach since the 70s. She says this is one of the worst she’s seen.
“It’s been at least 10 days that it’s been sitting out here smelling. And then the air picks it up and carries the smell of old, dead, rotten fish into our houses and into our yards,” she said.
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The Florida Department of Health says the smell is the algae decomposing.
Kathleen hopes ahead of the holiday weekend, city officials can help manage it.
“They said they were having someone come and clean it up and they started at the north end of the beach and they were going to put it into piles, it looks like they may have done that,” Lewis said.
As people head to the beaches, Buresh says for the most part, it’s harmless.
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But it can cause irritation.
“If you’re susceptible to pollen, allergies in general then Sargassum can be something that causes itchy eyes, and can irritate you a little bit if you’re in it but of course the best advice is to avoid it,” Buresh said.
Action News Jax reached out to Jacksonville Beach officials to see if they plan to remove the sargassum ahead of the holiday weekend. We have not heard back.
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