Scientists Say Record Amount of Seaweed Hit the Caribbean and Nearby Areas in May

By: The Associated Press

Date:

June 10, 2025

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Scientists Say Record Amount of Seaweed Hit the Caribbean and Nearby Areas in May — Piles of sargassum stretch across the shore in Playa Lucía, Yabucoa, Puerto Rico, Monday, June 2, 2025. Alejandro Granadillo/AP Photo

By The Associated Press

6/4/2025Updated: 6/4/2025

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico—A record amount of sargassum piled up across the Caribbean and nearby areas in May, and more is expected this month, according to a new report.

The brown prickly algae is suffocating shorelines from Puerto Rico to Guyana and beyond, disrupting tourism, killing wildlife and even releasing toxic gases that forced one school in the French Caribbean island of Martinique to temporarily close.