Will swaths of stinky seaweed invade beaches before spring break?

(NEXSTAR) – As spring break travel season approaches, a threat to a peaceful beach vacation lurks in the ocean. 9 million tons of Sargassum seaweed.

This is a significant increase compared to last month, when 5.5 million tonnes of sargassum was recorded. In the past few years, this seaweed has washed ashore and caused havoc in popular tourist destinations. When sargassum begins to dry on the sand, it rots and produces hydrogen sulfide.

Not only does it smell like rotten eggs, but it can also cause breathing difficulties for sensitive people. Tiny creatures that live in clumps of seaweed can also cause rashes and blisters for workers tasked with cleaning beaches.

With near-record sargassum blooms recorded last month, will history repeat itself this spring break?

Scientists at the University of South Florida’s Optical Oceanographic Laboratory have some good news. Most of the seaweed is still swirling around in the Atlantic Ocean. Most of last month’s sargassum growth occurred offshore, not in the Gulf of Mexico or the Caribbean.

Small amounts of sargassum are starting to wash up in the Lesser Antilles Islands in the Caribbean, including Antigua, Barbados and St. Lucia. “However, the southeast coast of Florida (including the Florida Keys) will be largely free of sargassum until at least late April or May.” USF researchers said:.

As of early March, sargassum volumes in the Gulf and Caribbean were still “minimal” compared to recent years.

The size of these blooms and the destruction they cause has increased over the past decade. “I had never seen anything like this before 2011,” Brian Burns, a research professor at the University of South Florida who studies sargassum, told Nexstar’s WFLA.

Last year, the amount of sargassum increased to 13 million tons. Although not all of it washed up on shore, the chunks that washed ashore wreaked havoc on parts of Florida’s coast and posed a major challenge to the tourism industry through spring break and into the summer.

The Florida Department of Health recommends that if beachgoers see sargassum washed up on the shore, they should avoid touching or swimming near the algae. The department also suggested using gloves if you need to handle sargassum and closing windows to avoid breathing problems and odors if you live near a beach.