DELRAY BEACH, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2025 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — The feared “Sargassum takeover” of South Florida beaches seems to be in full effect, with huge amounts of seaweed floating just offshore and piling up on beaches up and down the coast. While not as smelly as first feared, beachgoers are surprised to find normally pristine beaches covered with large rafts of Sargassum.
In Delray Beach, City beach workers are fighting what can best be described as a hostile takeover — and the results are impressive. BocaNewsNow.com visited the beach near Atlantic and A1A Friday. While we found large amounts of Sargassum on the beach and in the water, Delray Beach has done an excellent job trying to centralize and pile the seaweed.
“Delray Beach’s Parks and Recreation staff “turn over” the seaweed each morning, blending it into the sand,” said City of Delray Beach Communications Director Gina Carter to BocaNewsNow.com. “This is an ecologically friendly approach that helps prevent beach erosion and eventually returns the seaweed to the ocean rather than having it end up in a landfill.”
Sargassum is not a new problem for South Florida, but an ongoing problem, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
“Since 2011,” said FWC, “Sargassum has been more abundant in the Central Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. Sargassum now occurs each year in this area, with peak abundance observed in spring and summer months. Ocean currents transport Sargassum from the Atlantic, through the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, to southeast Florida and along the Atlantic coast.”
Anyone who plans to swim in the ocean this time of year should be aware not just of strong currents, but the rope-like consistency of the Sargassum. It’s easy to think you can fight the current, only to find out that yourlegs are truly tied by strong seaweed. Ocean Rescue continues to respond to almost daily calls of swimmers in distress.
