Florida’s pristine beaches are the lifeblood of the state’s tourism industry.
Millions of visitors flock there for fun in the sun and the ocean.
And Florida’s beaches faced one disgusting threat washing up from the sea.
Massive heaps of seaweed begin washing ashore on Florida’s beaches
South Florida’s beaches are seeing an unusual amount of seaweed wash up on the shore.
The University of South Florida’s Optical Oceanography Laboratory found that record amounts of sargassum seaweed are plaguing beaches in the area.
Sargassum is a smelly brown seaweed that forms from algae.
A drone video showed large portions of Miami Beach covered in it.
A record bloom of sargassum, a genus of seaweed, is possible this year, and it’s already overtaking Florida beaches. Drone footage shows the seaweed covering Miami Beach. pic.twitter.com/BIdG6tkAvb
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) April 26, 2025
Typically, seaweed is a problem for Florida in the summer and the fall.
Researchers said that the Gulf Stream usually protects Florida’s beaches in the spring from sargassum seaweed.
“What is noteworthy is that the total Sargassum amount in the tropical Atlantic, as well as for all regions combined, reached a new historical record for the same month of March,” a University of South Florida report stated.
Visitors to Miami Beach unexpectedly had to avoid the seaweed earlier this year.
“Yeah, it makes me really itchy. I don’t like it, and I think they should get rid of it all,” a beachgoer told 7 News.
“A heavy odor, yes. It’s a smell that you can really, you know, feel it,” Juan Merulanda said.
Beachgoer Edward Kapudo lamented that Miami Beach smelled fishy.
Sargassum seaweed kept beachgoers out of the ocean and forced some to change their plans.
“The water is still pretty murky,” a beachgoer noted. “I’m disappointed that there’s a lot of seaweed here.”
Smelly seaweed can ruin a trip to the beach
Sargassum seaweed forms massive clumps that can overwhelm areas of a beach.
University of South Florida marine scientist Dr. Brian Barnes warned that the seaweed’s smell can affect some people’s respiratory system with a big enough patch.
“Especially if a large aggregation comes ashore, piles up, it starts to decompose, it smells,” Barnes explained. “It’s a like a rotten egg smell, it’s not pleasant, and some people do have a respiratory sensitivity to it.”
The seaweed can also cause skin rashes in some people.
Scientists aren’t sure what’s caused the spike in sargassum seaweed, but they suspect agriculture runoff from South America could be a factor.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution researcher Dr. Dennis McGillicuddy noted that it could also affect the local ecosystem as well as tourism in Florida.
“The inundation of large amounts of seaweed onto our coastlines affects recreation, tourism [and] the decay of the sargassum on the coastlines actually can release hydrogen sulfide gas, which is very poisonous. We have to be careful about that, but it’s also affecting the local environments as well,” McGillicuddy stated.
Meralunda hoped that Miami Beach would do more to combat the stinky seaweed on the city’s famous beaches.
“I believe it’s every year that it happens, so I think you know, with nature, you don’t know what to do. But [the city] can probably do something about it,” Meralunda stated.
Sargassum seaweed is the unexpected threat that could potentially upend a beach vacation in Florida.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
