LISTEN: Professor Brian LaPointe Explains What The Blob Is, Isn’t, That May Approach South Florida.
BY: ANDREW COLTON | Editor and Publisher
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2023 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — The so-called “Blob” of seaweed that may or may not be approaching South Florida is certainly getting a lot of attention. Some reports say the mass, which is twice the size of the state, will dramatically impact beach-life along Florida’s Gulf Coast, and possibly the East Coast as well.
Florida Atlantic University Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Research Professor Brian LaPointe joined me on Wednesday morning on South Florida’s First News on NewsRadio 610 WIOD Wednesday morning to explain what it is, and what it isn’t. You can listen to the interview below,
“Well, it’s not really a blob, sorry to disappoint,” said Professor LaPointe. “But it is a mass of floating brown seaweed known as Sargassum that is in the tropical Atlantic ocean right now. It’s about 5000 miles long and about 300 miles wide. And we are monitoring this using satellite imagery as it moves westward towards the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico and right here in South Florida. So this is from a an area of the Atlantic Ocean that never historically had Sargassum you’re familiar probably with the Sargasso Sea, which is to the north of this area. And you know, that’s the namesake.”
LaPointe said it is possible the beaches on Florida’s East Coast will be affected.
“Yeah, so the currents are going to carry it through the Caribbean, which is already seeing some of it. Barbados is being hit right now pretty heavily, so is Mexican. Playa del Carmen’s got it all over the beaches there right now. It’ll continue moving in Fort Lauderdale. I saw pictures they’ve, they’ve got some already and I know Key West had its first inundation in early earlier this month on March 5, so we’re seeing it early this year. And that’s one of the reasons our forecast is this could be, you know, a big year for sargassum. Some of this will be carried up in the Gulf of Mexico. We have seen major influxes for example in Orange Beach, you know, just west of the Florida Panhandle in recent years, so you know that that area could see more, as well as the East Coast of Florida all the way from Key West up through Brevard County. In the Cocoa Beach area.”
Listen to the complete interview, above. Listen to South Florida’s First News weekdays, Monday through Friday, on NewsRadio 610 WIOD, simulcast on 105.9HD2, and always crystal clear in the iHeart Radio App and on all smart speakers.
