Ecological dead zones
Dense mats block light and oxygen, driving seagrass loss and burying turtle nesting beaches under decomposing biomass.
One public ask. One growing coastal coalition.
The beach should not be the first line of defense.
Add your name to the federal request for a lawful, monitored way to intercept shoreward-bound Sargassum before it reaches beaches, canals and businesses.
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greenDispersed offshore/amberConverging nearshore/redPersistent accumulation/blackShoreline emergency/
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- 1
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Ruined vacations, headaches and breathing problems, cancelled bookings, lost crew days. What it cost your family, your guests, your season — testimony moves policy.
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Live satellite
The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt, from orbit
A rolling four-week satellite composite of floating-algae density across the Atlantic — updated weekly. Hover or tap the dots to step back week by week.
Live satellite
Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt · This week
Source: USF Optical Oceanography Lab — Sargassum Watch System (SaWS)This is the same satellite record scientists use to track the belt: the brighter the signal, the denser the floating Sargassum. It is a reflectance index for algae on the sea surface — not tonnage, not a beach-level forecast, and it saturates under sun glint and cloud.
Data source
USF Optical Oceanography Lab — Sargassum Watch System (SaWS)
View the USF Sargassum Watch SystemImagery mirrored and displayed with credit to USF; the USF OOL is the originating source of the composite.
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What this is, and what we are asking for
Sargassum is living offshore habitat. But when extraordinary accumulations reach shallow water, canals and beaches, they become a costly environmental, health and community emergency. Join the united voice demanding a lawful federal pathway to intercept documented shoreward-bound Sargassum before it reaches shore.
The modern crisis
The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt (2011–present)
This is not the historic Sargasso Sea. The record-breaking blooms now hitting the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean are a recent development — a new ocean system that did not exist before 2011.
2011
The primary starting point
Most scientific sources identify 2011 as the year the first significant, unprecedented bloom appeared in the tropical North Atlantic, detectable by satellite. That marked the birth of the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt (GASB).
5,000–8,000 km
The belt today
The GASB now stretches from West Africa across the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean into the Gulf of Mexico — recurring, seasonal, and growing.
Drag to compare Pre-GASB 2000–2010 vs Recent GASB 2015–2023
Pre-GASB 2000–2010↔
Recent GASB 2015–2023
Step C · 2015–2023
Dense, continuous, every single year.
The belt is now dense, continuous and recurring — 5,000–8,000 km from West Africa through the Caribbean into the Gulf. This is the regime we live in.
- Belt length
- 5,000–8,000 km
- Caribbean landings
- Annual, record-setting
The problem
A 37-million-ton belt, documented inundations, and the point where habitat turns into hazard.
See the evidenceThe policy ask
A lawful, monitored federal pathway to intercept documented shoreward-bound mats offshore.
Read the askThe solution
Deep booms, wildlife safeguards and a circular economy that turns landed biomass into value.
See how it worksHealth and impact
Hydrogen sulfide exposure, tourism losses and what it costs the communities living with it.
Understand the impactThe turn
An ocean crisis
Economic & health suffocation
Rotting Sargassum releases hydrogen sulfide. Cleanup, cancellations and infrastructure damage land on local budgets.
A 37-million-ton belt — the largest macroalgal bloom on Earth, visible from space.
From seaweed to shelter
Sargassum-fiber block is lighter than concrete and holds interior temperatures down — a use for what we intercept.
Energy from the harvest
Processed biomass yields methane. Landed volume becomes a feedstock instead of a landfill tipping fee.
High-value biomaterials
Bio-leather, organic fertilizer and food-grade thickeners are already being produced from harvested Sargassum.
HazardResource
The shift
Let’s shift our mindset.
- From cleanup to circular solutions.
- From waste to value.
- From vulnerability to resilience.
Soil health
Landed biomass, rinsed and composted, returns nutrients to farms instead of rotting on the sand.
Innovation
Bio-bricks, biogas and bioplastics — value engineered out of the same mats we intercept.
Green jobs
Captains, crews, haulers and processors paid to work the problem, not just clean up after it.
Resilience
Coastlines, canals and local economies that absorb a bloom season without shutting down.
The core distinction
Habitat offshore. Hazard nearshore.
We are not asking the public to choose between wildlife and communities. We are demanding a protected, transparent way to intercept extraordinary shoreward-bound accumulations before living offshore habitat becomes decomposing nearshore pollution.
GREENHabitat
Dispersed offshore
Living pelagic habitat. Juvenile fish, turtles, crabs and endemic species depend on it. Nothing should be collected here.
Correct response: Protect and monitor. No intervention.
Distance to shore
> 50 nm
Mat density
Dispersed
Dissolved O₂
Normal
Intervention
None
HabitatIncreasing riskHigh riskHazard
Collection here would remove living habitat. This stage is a protect-only zone.
What is measured
Eight facts, each with a source
C01 · Atlantic basin / Southeast Florida · June 2026
USF's satellite record documented severe southeast Florida beaching during the 2026 season, with the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt at extraordinary abundance.
[S01] University of South Florida Optical Oceanography Laboratory
C02 · U.S. South Atlantic · 2003-2012 rulemaking, still in force
Pelagic Sargassum harvest is prohibited in South Atlantic federal waters south of the North Carolina-South Carolina boundary; north of it, harvest is tightly limited by area, season, observer, gear and annual-weight restrictions.
[S02] NOAA Fisheries[S05] NOAA Fisheries[S06] NOAA Fisheries
C03 · Big Pine Key, Florida Keys · FIU monitoring report
After canal removal at Big Pine Key Canal 266, organic content fell from 31.9% to 1.0% and average sediment depth from 154 cm to 40 cm; conditions later moved back toward baseline.
C04 · South Florida · 2025-2026
Decomposing Sargassum emits measurable sulfur compounds, and stranding studies document arsenic mobilization and enterococci in beach wrack.
[S12] University of Miami[S13] University of Miami / FIU[S14] Environmental Monitoring and Assessment[S15] Exposure and Health
Scale
What the satellites and the shoreline show
3 nm
Atlantic state-water boundary
Federal pilot begins seaward of this line
9 nm
Gulf state-water boundary
Requires a separately designed pathway
31.9% → 1.0%
Canal organic content after removal
Big Pine Key Canal 266, FIU monitoring
$Millions
Modeled U.S. economic hit
NOAA NCCOS: PR, USVI and coastal Florida
The ask
A lawful federal pathway for selective, monitored collection of documented shoreward-bound Sargassum.
- An Atlantic pilot seaward of Florida's three-nautical-mile state-water boundary.
- A separately designed Gulf pathway beyond the nine-nautical-mile boundary.
- Collection only of documented shoreward-bound accumulations — never dispersed, healthy offshore habitat.
- Independent observers, wildlife safeguards and published bycatch results.
- Transparent public reporting of tonnage, cost, ecological monitoring and outcomes.
What we are not asking for
- We are not asking to strip the Sargasso Sea.
- We are not asking to harvest living offshore habitat for profit.
- We are not asking to weaken protections for turtles, juvenile fish or endemic species.
- We are not asking anyone to choose between wildlife and communities.
Documented cases
It is already happening, and it is recorded
Monroe County, Florida
2026 Florida Keys inundation
USF reported severe southeast Florida beaching; Monroe County described a widespread Keys influx contributing to fish kills; Key West moved a public event because of odor; residents and marine professionals supplied dated photographs and accounts.
Big Pine Key, Florida
Big Pine Key Canal 266
FIU treatment/control monitoring found organic content fell from 31.9% to 1.0% and average sediment depth from 154 cm to 40 cm after removal; conditions later moved back toward baseline.
Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach removal operations
The city reports large 2026 removal volumes, daily management constraints, hotspot geography and the regulatory difficulty of in-water collection.
North Miami Beach, Florida
North Miami Beach health concerns
Florida DOH evaluated community complaints about rotting-seaweed odor and rashes and advised respiratory-sensitive people to avoid strong odors, while judging long-term open-air risk minimal.
Field video
What the shoreline is filming, pinned to the map
Over 50 archived clips from TikTok, Reddit, Facebook and X — every one tagged to a country, region, beach and date.
30 published · more in moderation
🌍 Atlantic basintiktok · @comments · 6 Aug 2026
“Life thrives here” — 332 comments on the habitat argument
Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt
🇲🇽 Mexicotiktok · @ruby.mae.doodle · 4 Aug 2026
Playa del Carmen sargassum update, 4 Aug 2026
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
🌍 Atlantic basintiktok · @dan000099 · 2026
The only seaweed that lives entirely at the surface
Open Atlantic surface raft
🇺🇸 United Statestiktok · @cleanmiamibeach_ · 2026
“The sargassum problem can’t be THAT bad” — Miami Beach right now
Miami Beach, Florida
🇺🇸 United Statestiktok · @cassiefisher17 · 2026
“Florida beaches right now…”
Sarasota County beaches, Florida
🇺🇸 United Statesnews · @weartv · 2026
WEAR-TV: blooms pile up on northwest Florida beaches
Pensacola Beach, Florida
🇺🇸 United Statestiktok · @mila202198 · 2026
“Miami has the prettiest beaches in the world”
Miami, Florida
🇺🇸 United Statestiktok · @whoanellie16 · 17 Jul 2026
Miami Beach, 17 July 2026
Miami Beach, Florida
🇧🇿 Belizenews · @news5livebelize · 13 Jul 2026
News 5: how Belize City is removing tons of sargassum
Belize City, Belize
🇺🇸 United Statestiktok · @southbeachhelicopters · 2026
Helicopter view: the belt has already reached South Beach
South Beach, Miami Beach, Florida
🇩🇴 Dominican Republictiktok · @mqtv.nfcf · 2026
Offshore harvester working a boom line in the Dominican Republic
Punta Cana coast, Dominican Republic
🇲🇽 Mexiconews · @afp · 2026
AFP: Mexico steps up the clean-up on the Riviera Maya
Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo
🇺🇸 United Statestiktok · @adriannaconiglio · 2026
“It's really not that bad” — swimming through the drift
Florida Atlantic coast
🇩🇴 Dominican Republictiktok · @adrianadelic · 2026
“Every morning since being in Punta Cana”
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
🇺🇸 United Statestiktok · @melaineygunning · 2026
Arriving in the Keys to a sargassum season
Florida Keys
🇺🇸 United Statesnews · @cbsmornings · 2026
CBS Mornings: “It stinks” — seaweed invasion on Florida beaches
Virginia Key, Miami, Florida
🇲🇽 Mexicotiktok · @designexpertint · 2026
Aerial: floating barrier holding a mat off the shoreline
Mexican Caribbean nearshore
🇺🇸 United Statestiktok · @gulf.coast.unfold · Jun 2026
Record-breaking sargassum on the Florida & Alabama Gulf coast
Perdido Key, Florida–Alabama line
🇩🇴 Dominican Republictiktok · @theemilywheeler · 2026
A brown band where the shallows should be
Dominican Republic north coast
🇵🇷 Puerto Ricotiktok · @christinaswanderlust · 2026
“When you fly to Culebra for pristine beaches…”
Culebra Island
🇩🇴 Dominican Republictiktok · @thejamiegruber · 2026
Three things about sargassum in the DR
Dominican Republic
🇵🇷 Puerto Ricotiktok · @22_kels · 2026
Puerto Rico: $782M in damages every year
Puerto Rico
🌍 Atlantic basintiktok · @curveballchronicles · 2026
Satellite imagery explainer: the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt
Africa to the Gulf of Mexico
🇧🇿 Belizetiktok · @travelwithcane · 2026
“When you're in Belize and it's Sargassum season”
Belize coast
🌊 Caribbean Seatiktok · @shawnmichael758 · 2026
“We really need help with this”
Eastern Caribbean, open water
🇲🇽 Mexicotiktok · @robynmcd · 2026
“The sargassum in Riviera Maya is insane”
Riviera Maya, Quintana Roo
🌊 Atlantic Oceantiktok · @restful_4_things · 2026
Sailing through the belt
Mid-Atlantic passage
🇲🇽 Mexicotiktok · @hernameisduygu · 16 Mar 2026
Tulum public beach update
Tulum, Quintana Roo
🇲🇽 Mexicotiktok · @podcastoasis · 2026
The man turning Sargassum into houses
Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo
🌍 Atlantic basintiktok · @brutamerica · 2026
A blob of seaweed wider than the continental U.S.
Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt
International
One coastline, many flags
One coastline, many flags
The belt does not check passports. Neither does this movement.
Sargassum lands on Caribbean islands, Mexican and Central American shores, West Africa, Brazil and the United States within the same season. Every flag below is a shoreline already living it. Tap the ones you live on or travel to — we will move that shoreline's news, photos and video to the top for you.
Five ways to move
One signature is hard. A block is a constituency.
01
Register and join
Sign the policy statement, identify role and geography, verify email, and choose whether a name or organization may appear publicly.
02Share and invite
Create a personal referral link; send the campaign to neighbors, customers, guests, colleagues and elected officials.
03Donate
Fund evidence collection, public education, local organizing, scientific review and policy engagement through a transparent hosted payment flow.
04Tell your story
Submit a firsthand experience, photograph, video, business record or environmental observation with consent and source details.
05Organize locally
Find community resources, report incidents, join a local group, host a meeting, request public records or pursue a municipal resolution.
Live
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