Sargassum at Guana Bay

Daily Herald story

Wow, that picture is awful!

Can't imagine what it smells like.

..wouldn't want to...

Ugh! I saw it in June!

Several years ago just before our plane was preparing to make its final approach to PJIA, we could see an unusual tinge to the water below us through the clouds. It was intermittent and it was huge. We thought perhaps some kind of a terrible sewage spill or perhaps an oil spill? We had no idea what it was until after we arrived and learned that it was in fact the dreaded Sargasso seaweed and it was plaguing many of the island beaches most of the time we were there.

Mullet Beach was okay the whole trip as was Maho Beach but in an around the island day sail we saw how devastating the seaweed was to most of the island. It was disgusting and try as they did to keep the beaches clean it was really a never-ending task because as soon as they raked it up and got rid of it, the waves brought more in. Out of the five days we were at BSV that trip I think there was only one day we could really enjoy the beach there without getting covered with the seaweed.

The same year friends were in Antigua at about the same time and the beaches at their resort area were actually closed because they were deemed unsafe and/or unhealthy due to the very heavy accumulations of seaweed along their beaches. They ran regular shuttles to other beaches because it was so bad there at that time.

Oh yes you can! Just like Cul-de-Sac.

And that was horrible.

Gees! Phillipsburg and the surrounding areas - close your windows and stay inside 'cause of the dump fires! Guana Bay - close your windows 'cause of the Sargassum fumes! Several other places - close your windows 'cause of break-ins and thefts!

I really don't want to quit going to SXM, but really.......

Then don't.