Large amounts of sargassum seaweed have washed upon Mullet Bay beach as this picture taken on Thursday morning shows. The early beaching of large amounts of the seaweed may predict a worrisome summer where sargassum landings in St. Maarten are concerned.
Sargassum is a genus of brown (class Phaeophyceae) seaweed which is distributed throughout the temperate and tropical oceans of the world. Sargassum first plagued St. Maarten in 2011 and 2012, with the St. Maarten Nature Foundation having to warn swimmers to avoid swimming on certain beaches due to the large amount of seaweed and many beachfront residences and hotels having to continuously clean washed up sargassum.
