Sargassum Continues to Threaten Riviera Maya Beaches

3,700 Tons of Sargassum Arrive on the Shores of the Mexican Caribbean

In the next six days, about 3,700 tons of sargassum will flood the beaches of Quintana Roo, from Xcalak, on the Costa Maya, to Punta Maroma, on the Riviera Maya.

That is to the warning of the Secretary of the Ministry of the Navy, that after more than a year of being in charge of the combat and control of the disaster, finally decided to publicly report the behavior of seaweed that threatens to ruin tourism plans of the Mexican Caribbean.

“In the Mexican Caribbean, the alert condition with a probability of arrival is “ abundant ”. Three groups of sargassum are delimited due to their maximum probability of causing landfalls on the coast of the state of Quintana Roo and the island of Cozumel ”, warns the Semar traffic light.

The first group is located approximately 18 kilometers south of the island of Cozumel (~ 222 tons), the smallest group, which will continue to enter the Cozumel Canal in the next few hours, increasing calls to the south and east of the island. , as well as in the vicinity of Puerto Aventuras, Playa de Carmen and Punta Maroma.

However, the information warns that at least 3,500 tons of that sargassum are heading south, specifically towards Mahahual, which has not had a truce for weeks. There, the white sand disappeared under the accumulated sargassum.

“The second, approximately 20 km east of Punta Herrero (~ 1,330 tons), will increase calls during its journey on the coasts north of Mahahual, Sian Ka’an and the vicinity of Tulum in the course of the next 06 days. The third, approximately 30 km southeast of Mahahual (~ 2,138 tons), with a high probability of generating landfalls in the municipality of Othón P. Blanco in the next 06 days, ”says today’s warning, June 9.

Quintana Roo is barely recovering from an unprecedented crisis without destroying all its economic activity that reached the point of reaching hotel occupancies below 3 percent.

When the sector looks with hopeful eyes to the next holiday season that starts in the first days of July, sargassum threatens to be another headache, according to instances such as the University of South Florida, the agency in charge of monitoring for the US government.

“Looking ahead, 2021 will be another important year for sargassum, and the amount in the Caribbean Sea is likely to increase continuously during the summer, accompanied by more stranding events,” he says in his May report.

Satellite images reveal that the macroalgae are present throughout the Caribbean Sea from the waters off of Quintana Roo to crossing the Lesser Antilles. The forecasts indicate that they continue that way for the next two months.

Source: El Punto Sobre La I