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Tourists walk past large quantities of seaweed piling up on the beach in the Mexican resort city of Cancun, Mexico, Wednesday, July 15, 2015. The seaweed invasion, which appears to have hit most of the Caribbean this year, is generally considered a nuisance and has prompted some hotel cancellations from tourists but scientists consider washed-up seaweed an important part of the coastal eco-system and plays a role in beach nourishment although some scientists have also associated the large quantities of seaweed this year in the Caribbean region with higher than normal temperatures and low winds, both of which influence ocean currents, and they draw links to global climate change. (AP Photo/ Israel Leal)![caribean_seaweed__3_]()
Large quantities of seaweed blanket the beach in the Mexican resort city of Cancun, Mexico, Wednesday, July 15, 2015. The seaweed invasion, which appears to have hit most of the Caribbean this year, is generally considered a nuisance and has prompted some hotel cancellations from tourists but scientists consider washed-up seaweed an important part of the coastal eco-system and plays a role in beach nourishment although some scientists have also associated the large quantities of seaweed this year in the Caribbean region with higher than normal temperatures and low winds, both of which influence ocean currents, and they draw links to global climate change. (AP Photo/ Israel Leal)![caribean_seaweed__4_]()
Large quantities of seaweed blanket the beach in the east coast town of Humacao, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015. There are various ideas about what is causing the seaweed invasion that scientists say started in 2011, including warming ocean temperatures and changes in the ocean currents due to climate change. Some researchers believe it is primarily due to increased land-based nutrients and pollutants washing into the water, including nitrogen-heavy fertilizers and sewage waste that fuel the blooms. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)![caribean_seaweed__5_]()
Birds are seen on top of a concrete beam covered with heavy seaweed in the east coast Playa Los Machos in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015. The seaweed called Sargassum, which gets its name from the Portuguese word for grape, is a floating brownish algae that generally blooms in the Sargasso Sea, a 2 million-square-mile body of warm water in the North Atlantic that is a major habitat and nursery for numerous marine species. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)![caribean_seaweed__6_]()
An old abandoned sail boat sits partially sunk in a heavily seaweed covered beach in the east coast town of Fajardo, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015. Whatever the reason, the massive sargassum flow is becoming a major challenge for tourism-dependent countries. The algae harm coastal environments, even causing the deaths of sea turtle hatchlings after they wriggle out of the sand where their eggs were buried. Cleanup efforts by work crews may also worsen beach erosion. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)![caribean_seaweed__1_]()
Large quantities of seaweed lays ashore at the Playa Los Machos beach, in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015. The seaweed invasion, which appears to have hit most of the Caribbean this year, is generally considered a nuisance and has prompted some hotel cancellations from tourists but scientists consider washed-up seaweed an important part of the coastal eco-system. Some scientists have also associated the large quantities of seaweed this year in the Caribbean region with higher than normal temperatures and low winds, both of which influence ocean currents, and they draw links to global climate change. (AP PhotoRicardo Arduengo)![caribean_seaweed__8_]()
A boat sits abandoned in a heavily seaweed covered beach in the east coast town of Fajardo, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015. Clumps of the brownish seaweed known as sargassum have long washed up on Caribbean coastlines, but researchers say the algae blooms have exploded in extent and frequency in recent years. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)![caribean_seaweed__9_]()
Children play as their mother keeps an eye on them at a beach heavily covered with seaweed in the east coast town of Humacao, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015. The picture-perfect beaches and turquoise waters that people expect on their visits to the Caribbean are increasingly being fouled by decaying seaweed that attracts biting sand fleas and smells like rotten eggs. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)![caribean_seaweed__10_]()
Large quantities of seaweed blanket the beach in the east coast Playa Los Machos in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015. Clumps of the brownish seaweed known as sargassum have long washed up on Caribbean coastlines, but researchers say the algae blooms have exploded in extent and frequency in recent years. The current invasion appears to be a bumper crop, with a number of shorelines so severely hit that some tourists have canceled trips and lawmakers on Tobago have termed it a natural disaster. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)![caribean_seaweed__7_]()
Old abandoned sail boats sit partially sunk in a heavily seaweed covered beach in the east coast town of Fajardo, Puerto Rico, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2015. Whatever the reason, the massive sargassum flow is becoming a major challenge for tourism-dependent countries. The algae harm coastal environments, even causing the deaths of sea turtle hatchlings after they wriggle out of the sand where their eggs were buried. Cleanup efforts by work crews may also worsen beach erosion. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)Smelly seaweed clogging Caribbean beaches
The picture-perfect beaches and turquoise waters that people expect on their visits to the Caribbean are increasingly being fouled by mats of decaying seaweed that attract biting sand fleas and smell like rotten eggs.
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- Smelly seaweed clogging Caribbean beaches
