Recent Sargassum Inundation Events in the Caribbean: Shipboard Observations Reveal Dominance of a Previously Rare Form

During June 2011, pelagic Sargassum began washing ashore along Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, West African, and Brazilian coastlines in unprecedented quantities. Tourist beaches were covered by more than a meter of seaweed. Economic impacts of this Atlantic basin-scale inundation event drew international media attention By summer 2012, our shipboard observations suggested the Caribbean portion of the event had run its course. However, another similarly extensive Sargassum inundation was underway by April 2014, persisting through 2015 (MercoPress, 2015).