Mexico Caribbean beaches may see worst sargassum since 2018

By MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican authorities say the problem of foul-smelling seaweed-like algae on the country’s Caribbean coast beaches is “alarming.” The arrival of heaps of brown sargassum on the coast’s normally pristine white beaches comes just as tourism is recovering to pre-pandemic levels, though job recovery in the country’s top tourist destination has been slower. With more algae spotted floating out at sea, experts fear that 2022 could be as bad or worse than the catastrophic year of 2018, the biggest sargassum wave to date. Navy Secretary José Ojeda said Friday “We can say the current situation is alarming.”