Seaweed still a bother

While there has been a noticeable decline in the levels of sargassum seaweed along Barbados’ beaches, several areas continue to grapple with significant accumulations, particularly on the South Coast. 

The persistent presence of large piles of seaweed on the pristine white sands has raised concerns among locals, business owners and environmentalists.

Ryan Sugrim, a regular visitor to Worthing Beach in Christ Church, shared his observations with the Weekend Nation: “There has been a decrease in the number of locals and tourists over the past few weeks,” he said. “With how the seaweed was out here, no umbrellas or chairs have been out here for about three to four weeks now because tourists are not coming on the beach. It has started to improve . . . but there really are not many people coming on the beach because of that seaweed, so nobody is making money.”

Despite some beaches near Dover Beach Hotel and The Crane showing signs of clean up efforts, Sugrim called for continued action.

“Something needs to be done because everybody is now gravitating towards other beaches because there is nothing down here now,” he urged.

Sugrim’s sentiments were echoed by Aziza Greene and Thea Frederick, who frequent beaches along the South Coast. Frederick noted the decline in tourist activity. 

Near Silver Sands, local residents Godrick and Sharon Wilkinson observed a stark reduction in beach activity. 

“When the seaweed comes, the kitesurfers and windsurfers do not come and that is bad for business,” Godrick said. 

One significant downside of the piles of seaweeds is the smell, which the Wilkinsons noted travelled from Long Beach through the night. 

“The smell keeps on coming back,” Sharon said. “I have noticed the people [government officials and local agencies] cleaning the area, but it keeps on coming back, so it is just a natural thing.” 

Environmental considerations are also at the forefront of the conversation.

Dr Carla Daniel, director of the Barbados Sea Turtle Project, noted the importance of responsible cleanup practices. 

“It is important when persons are cleaning sargassum that they choose the storage locations carefully to ensure that they’re not covering nests,” she said. 

“When they cover the nest, this reduces the amount of oxygen that is able to get down to the incubating eggs and hatchlings. It can also mean that hatchlings trying to make their way out of the nest would be unable to get out because they would not be able to dig through the sargassum.”

Fortunately, according to Daniel, the Barbados Sea Turtle Project has not received any reports of turtles
being entangled or adversely affected by the sargassum cleanup this year. Nonetheless, she cautioned Barbadians to remain vigilant, especially with the hurricane season in effect. 

“Our concerns now as we move forward are what the innovations of the sargassum will look like in the coming months, because the nesting season is peaking now, June and July, and then we will have hatchlings coming out.”

Sanaa Elcock is on a summer internship programme at The Nation Publishing Co Limited.