Whether seaweed is present on the beach or not is on one of the most frequently asked questions for folks coming to visit. Seaweed can be an issue along the beach during certain times of the year.
Though June is historically the month of greatest seaweed deposits, there is no way to predict when it will wash ashore in larger quantities or how long it will last. While Madeira does rake the beach daily we are not permitted to rake along the wet sand. There is an importance to seaweed to our ecosystem. For example turtles use sargassum seaweed mats as nurseries where hatchlings have food and shelter. Sargassum also provides essential habitat for shrimp, crab, fish, and other marine species that have adapted specifically to this floating algae.
Take a look below on some information on seaweed and the importance to our ecosystem:
- https://www.nationalgeographic.org/activity/sorting-gulf-ecosystem/
- https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sargassosea.html
- https://sowal.com/story/the-importance-of-seaweed-to-our-ecosystem
- https://oceanbites.org/all-food-does-not-come-from-the-sun/
- https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Diagrammatic-representation-of-a-cross-section-of-the-northern-Gulf-of-Mexico-showing_fig3_312087437
- https://cleantechnica.com/2021/06/02/seaweed-can-restore-ocean-dead-zones-caused-by-nutrient-run-off/
