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Sargassum Orient Beach #252629
04/12/2021 05:18 AM
04/12/2021 05:18 AM
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 721
Colorado
sxmbeachlover Offline OP
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sxmbeachlover  Offline OP
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 721
Colorado
Massive amounts of Sargassum for the last week or so, especially in the Club O area. Frontloader does its best to remove it, but there is just way too much of the stuff. Thankfully, there was a break yesterday in the middle of the beach. Wondering what the other beaches on the west side look like right now. This is nasty.


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Re: Sargassum Orient Beach [Re: sxmbeachlover] #252631
04/12/2021 05:58 AM
04/12/2021 05:58 AM
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 13
Boston
D
DAS Offline
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DAS  Offline
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Posts: 13
Boston
Yes, we have never seen that much seaweed at the CO beach. Yesterday at ~ 7:00 AM the seaweed was ~ 10 feet onto the beach (and over a foot high), and ~ 100-150 feet out into the ocean near Papagayo. The problem is that when the Sargassum rots it releases hydrogen sulfide, which is toxic. My understanding is that Cedrick has the seaweed raked just on Fridays, but yesterday he had part of the seaweed removed.

In contrast, the seaweed is removed 5-6 times/day out near La Playa and Orient Beach Hotel. Given the currents, there is now almost no seaweed visible in the ocean at those locations.

Re: Sargassum Orient Beach [Re: sxmbeachlover] #252633
04/12/2021 06:21 AM
04/12/2021 06:21 AM
Joined: Mar 2021
Posts: 39
Maryland
O
Oldenuf2knowbttr Offline
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Joined: Mar 2021
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Maryland
We were there (briefly) on Saturday and agree it’s the worst we’ve ever seen, by far. Getting in the water is not even an option. Removal of that quantity of Sargassum looks like a major project. Can’t imagine it will happen quickly. Looks like Orient may not be in the cards this trip.

Re: Sargassum Orient Beach [Re: DAS] #252637
04/12/2021 08:29 AM
04/12/2021 08:29 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,355
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Carol_Hill  Offline
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Central Florida!
I remember when Bruno was still at LaPlaya, he demanded they get a machine to clear the seaweed, so that's why it has been clear there. Sorry it has been so bad there recently. Gomer, who is staying at Beachside Villas, has reported that Simpson Bay has has almost no seaweed the past week or so.


Carol Hill
Re: Sargassum Orient Beach [Re: sxmbeachlover] #252639
04/12/2021 08:31 AM
04/12/2021 08:31 AM
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 515
Eastern Caribbean
Ritchard Offline
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Ritchard  Offline
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Eastern Caribbean
There are pictures of absolutely massive mats of sargassum across some of the beaches of Martinique. I haven't been around to Orient in quite a while.


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Re: Sargassum Orient Beach [Re: sxmbeachlover] #252645
04/12/2021 10:11 AM
04/12/2021 10:11 AM
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 933
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SammyM Offline
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SammyM  Offline
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I thought Kontiki (which is relatively close to the Club O. beach) had a tractor or a machine of some type that collected the algae, but there were concerns that using machinery harmed the beaches. If Kontiki has such a machine maybe they can ask to use it on the C/O beach, too. Removing it by manual labor looks almost overwhelming. When we were in Cancun a few years ago our resort had two young men with wire leaf rakes tending to the beach every morning during our stay. That worked, but the area they were tending to was much, much smaller than the Club O. beach area. There must be some future agricultural use of these sea grasses if they can be harvested. Maybe some type of fuel extract or fertilizer?

Re: Sargassum Orient Beach [Re: sxmbeachlover] #252704
04/13/2021 03:54 AM
04/13/2021 03:54 AM
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 721
Colorado
sxmbeachlover Offline OP
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sxmbeachlover  Offline OP
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Colorado
As I said in original post, Cedric or whomever has contracted a large earthmover that attempts to remove the Sargassum every morning but with the large volume, it is impossible. Going to the western beaches today.


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Re: Sargassum Orient Beach [Re: sxmbeachlover] #252737
04/13/2021 12:56 PM
04/13/2021 12:56 PM
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 933
S
SammyM Offline
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SammyM  Offline
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Did a little research on this last night, and a machine called the "Sargasso Skimmer" was invented/created about three years ago down in Belize. I've seen sea grasses on the Riviera Maya in the past, but nothing like I've seen on St. Martin at certain times over the past five years. This machine skims the water and sucks up the floating sea grass patches, and a conveyer like tube unit draws it in for disposal. Check out this website for further details: www.desmi.com. or Google search 'Sargasso Skimmer'. I have no idea how much something like this would cost, but as we all know the beaches of St. Martin and the Caribbean for that matter are cherished resources that need to be protected. Maybe at some point down the road the French and/or Dutch governments will pursue such machinery for their eastern facing beaches?

Re: Sargassum Orient Beach [Re: SammyM] #252738
04/13/2021 01:17 PM
04/13/2021 01:17 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,355
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Carol_Hill  Offline
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Central Florida!
I'm too lazy to look for it at the moment, but there is such a machine, or similar, already on Dutch St. Maarten, as there was a picture of it in the Daily Herald.


Carol Hill
Re: Sargassum Orient Beach [Re: Carol_Hill] #252739
04/13/2021 01:28 PM
04/13/2021 01:28 PM
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 1,606
United States of America
bdeeley Offline
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bdeeley  Offline
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Posts: 1,606
United States of America
A direct link to appropriate page is below. It looks like they have a number of solutions.

DESMI - Seaweed / Sargassum Handling Solutions


Be Happy! Simply because you deserve to be. 😁
Re: Sargassum Orient Beach [Re: sxmbeachlover] #252740
04/13/2021 01:39 PM
04/13/2021 01:39 PM
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 5,075
Massachusetts
boucharda Offline
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boucharda  Offline
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Posts: 5,075
Massachusetts
Here are a couple of pretty weak pics of the seaweed removal machine being pulled by a tractor on St. Kitts....5 years ago

Should have got some "before" pics....

Attached Files st.Kitts1.jpgst. kitts2.jpg
Re: Sargassum Orient Beach [Re: sxmbeachlover] #252743
04/13/2021 02:10 PM
04/13/2021 02:10 PM
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 18,559
St Maarten
BillandElaine Offline
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BillandElaine  Offline
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St Maarten


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Re: Sargassum Orient Beach [Re: BillandElaine] #252747
04/13/2021 02:54 PM
04/13/2021 02:54 PM
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 2,288
P
PelicanPirate Offline
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Posts: 2,288
He can dump all that back by the old laundry or boutique

Re: Sargassum Orient Beach [Re: PelicanPirate] #252750
04/13/2021 03:53 PM
04/13/2021 03:53 PM
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 18,465
Auburn, WA
SXMScubaman Offline
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SXMScubaman  Offline
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Posts: 18,465
Auburn, WA
And when it sits there fermenting I can imagin the stink. Yikes

Re: Sargassum Orient Beach [Re: sxmbeachlover] #252760
04/13/2021 05:49 PM
04/13/2021 05:49 PM
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 1,091
CaribLee Offline
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CaribLee  Offline
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Posts: 1,091
Been here a week and had not noticed any seaweed on the south/southwest part of the island. Even commented to the wife after we landed that I did not see any from the plane as we approached. However......we woke up this morning and the first thing I noticed was the significant seaweed floating off of Maho Beach. Went to Mullet Beach today. You could see the seaweed about 100 yards out to sea but nothing came ashore at Da Watering Hole or Rosie's. Later in the day some began collecting on the west end of the beach. But it did not affect us at all where we were including out in the water.


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