sargasso observations

Around the airport/de-sal plant is amazing! this stuff is almost 20 feet thick. smells like an outhouse on a hot summer day.

once you get out from behind the islands, there are rafts of this stuff the size of houses.

Anegada had a 6 foot wide rope of the stuff about a 1/2 foot thick. luckily it had already gone through the fermentation phase and did not stink too bad.

Other than that, we had a couple of stinky beaches, but not at all bad. I think we moved back field at sopers, cause towards the front was pretty funky.

When I was down a few weeks ago it reminded me of the story about the couple that got divorced, before the wife moved out after losing the house to her cheating hubby, she went around and unscrewed all of the curtain rod ends and inserted a shrimp into each one. The ex hubby couldn't determine the smell and couldn't sell the house because of it ...made me think if you really wanted to give someone some payback that Sargassum would do the trick!! That is by far one of the raunchy-ous smells I have ever smelled!!

Try using squid it makes shrimp smell like Chanel #5

any pics?
is this stuff still coming in?
also- is it on all shores , or just the windward sides?
all anagada beaches???
3 weeks till we arrive, just want to know what's going on!
thanks!

Yes, it is still coming in as of yesterday

there are some small concentrations in nooks and crannies. But MAINLY on the windward side.

Of the 16 or so places we were at anchor/mooring/slips...we only perceived it at sopers and josiah bay. the only time it was PUNGENT was by the airport at VG.

it would be prudent to check your water separators on your gen/engine more frequently. That said, it is not REALLY bad.

Pretty much all anegada beaches, but it was dried out and not fermenting.

Hopefully it will be gone by next month. I love to beachcomber, don't mind the smell of fermenting seaweed but an entire beach of rotting sargasso doesn't sound too exciting!!

It also appears to be causing the water desalination plants on Virgin Gorda limited amount of input water so potable water on VG is very limited.

The sargasso weed has been coming in strong for over a year now. It mainly collects in eastward facing bays, cuts and shoals due to the prevailing winds being ESE.
Every once in a while there is a localized effort to clean up a collection point around a boat ramp or similar area. This is very hard to accomplish and is labor intensive to boot.
We advise our charter guests to avoid the large patches both on the water and downwind at anchor. Two reasons for this; one to avoid clogging the raw water intakes on the yacht, and two for the smell in an anchorage.
As far as beaches go... if the beach faces at all to the east then stay away on this trip.

Any updates on the sargassum problem?

That is a strange problem, since Sargassum floats on the surface and doesn't penetrate to any depth at all. If the water intake is more than 1-2 feet below the surface it shouldn't be ingesting any of the weed at all.
Similarly with the water intake, last season I inadvertently motored through large patches while at sea and didn't find any weed in my water filters when I checked - but I do avoid those patches now when I can see them.
The problem was quite big on St. Martin and Antigua windward beaches last year and the smell is ... pungent ...

Is this stuff something new to the area ?

There has always been Sargassum floating around (Google the Sargasso Sea) but this last season has seen an unprecedented proliferation of the stuff

Spikes of sargassum were first recorded in the Greater and Lesser Antilles (including Trinidad and Tobago) in 2011 and 2012. The problem appears to have begun many miles away. In recent years, the Amazon basin has experienced some of the world’s highest rates of deforestation. And without vegetation to hold soil in place, rain washes that soil and whatever it contains into streams and rivers. So when the Amazon basin saw greater than normal amounts of rain in 2011 and 2012, unusually high levels of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus washed into Atlantic waters around the mouth of the Amazon River off the north coast of Brazil. Sargassum passed through this nutrient-rich water and responded by growing like, well, a weed. Ocean currents carried it from there to the Lesser Antilles and western Caribbean.

Seriously Ron, if you are going to wholesale copy and paste, just provide the link. http://www.newsweek.com/2015/07/10/sargassum-ruining-beaches-texas-tobago-347735.html Trying to look intelligent this way is pretty stupid.

Yes, he is back do is Hallowean

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> Finally. Very well said.

busted!! Ron

Look at Soggy Dollar's webcam today, yuck!

Just did....NASTY.....

I guess I won't be bringing any fishing gear in a couple weeks <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cloud.gif" alt="" />

Actually the fishing is always best just outside the mats or underneath them if you can present your bait there. Once you head further south you will witness the local fisherman creating their own mats to fish underneath with palms or whatever they can find. The best fishing in the Gulf of Mexico is along the "rip" of Sargasso. No RIP there is far less chance of catching anything meaningful.

Guarantee weed free fishing from the beach in front of CRC!

I'm well aware of how to fish around seaweed, but thanks for your totally irrelevant info when it comes to trolling from a boat. Once I head further South where? Your responses are like a robot.
Where did you plagiarize your post from? <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

Think he got it from his favorite magazine. "Blather and [censored] Monthly". Likes the centerfolds <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

OK, guys, don't care if you put a smiley face in the post or not, cut it out!!

Look at Soggy this morning. Heavy duty stuff there.

Looks like it could make it tough getting to shore. Swimming or by dinghy.

Just saw a cat go in and turn around and leave. Mal is CGB clear? Smugglers? We will be there in 20 days.

There is more to our world than what you can read on a hand held GPS with extra batteries. I was rigging hand sewn baits before LORAN. Catching fish then finding my way back to the dock. The offshore fishing and trolling is always better parallel to a organized weed line. In some areas if the weeds do not form up into a "rip" there is little chance of any success.

Between Martinique and St. Lucia and near other islands south and east of the BVI you can see fleets of small boats most days building their own mats with palms or whatever they can find to attract marine life. The very low dories can be card to spot from the charter cat on autopilot with the working crew laying low to not startle the gathering fish.



The sargasso if it is here to stay will be good for the offshore fishing. The science from the reef is not as certain. The weed is also very healthy for sustainable beaches. Yes, I know the two legged sun lizards do not like the stuff on their Disney beaches and demand the nature to be raked off. If you ever have the chance to enter the water quietly with a mask and peek under the mat the diverse small marine life is stunning. The smell even stench when the weed comes ashore is the death of that diverse bio and ecosystem.

Current brought the weed to wherever it is. Nutrients sustain and fuel its growth. Someone with a very good chemistry set can tell us whether the nutrients now in abundance in the waters near the BVI are from far away construction runoff or the human waste of a thousand party boats. Good water samples would reveal the potential sources fueling the massive plant blooms across the area. The sargasso plant is doing its part to clean up our water. With the sargasso we will have cleaner water, healthier beaches, and more robust fish and bird life. To those that enjoy catching gets some bigger hooks and learn how to wish the Rip/Weeds. For those who like small marine creatures get a mask and quietly study what actually thrives under those mats. For the intellectually curios take some water samples and study the high level of organic nutrients. Is that coming from our farms, toilets, or construction equipment? As long as there is excess organic nutrients in the water the plant life will blossom. Sargasso is the first healthy set of plants trying to bring nature in balance. With greater pollution we will witness must nastier algae and weeds. There are massive issues with the nastier variants along coastal China.



Flame on....

my trolling observations from a couple months ago...
if you are using topwater (hoochie type, or rigged ballyhoo with a hochie on its nose) it will be fine. usually, you will see the weeds catch the lure (the rod will start bouncing a bit) and you can just grab the line and yank it with your hand while the rod is still in the rodholder, it will come off. I only had to reel in a few times to get it off... you would be surprised by how many times the lure will just skip over the top of even the heaviest mats...
if you use any lure that goes under water (like a spoon or diving bait) you can forget it... you'll be cleaning weeds the whole time...
we did get a few hits/fish near the weed mats as we trolled though... pompano I think...
also caught several little tunny (bonito), a black fin tuna, barracuda, some silver fish I couldn't identify (small kingfish?), and a mahi.
I wish we had brought more than 3 pre-rigged ballyhoo... we caught fish on all 3, with 2 of them being within 5 min of putting the bait in the water!
got a lot (like 4?) of our fish near the kingfish banks, on our way back from anegada..
one last fishing tip... if you catch a tunny, you can cut strips (like 2 inch by 6-8 inch, with skin on) and pin those to your "hoochie"... seemed to increase our catch...
good luck

Very well shared! There are some very talented boats fishing out of St. Thomas at least part of the year. Does anyone know how the pro's on St. Thomas have changed their approach and baits?

50' wide at Wonky Dog with sealife dying at Handsome Bay, Lobster, Eels, Fish, Shark through lack of oxygen

The pics from Handsome Bay are pretty sickening.

Saw a tractor removing the goo from
in front of Soggy Dollar this am
Hope this isn't a case of "Herding Cats"

Mike

Looks like they got Soggy cleaned up <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

I wonder where they put in after they remove it from the beach. Last time we were in Tulum the worker bees dug huge holes in the sand to hide the stuff.

I know how Ivan would clean it up...10 gallons of fuel oil...WOOMMPPFFF!

I noticed in the BVI rag, that the govt' is taking delivery of a clean up boat. think of a ~25 foot boat with a 8 ft wide conveyor belt on it.

Soggy webcam makes the situation look a bit better today.

Yes - helicopter shots of the channel outside Roadtown are VERY disturbing indeed <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

Antilles Helicopter posted a pic on FB of a huge blob of it in the channel off of Road Town. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />

Oh wow, that's a big patch.

Will be there next week! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" /> We have a very short trip this time (3 full days). Are there any islands/beaches we should avoid while planning our itinerary due to the seaweed? What about snorkeling spots? Thanks!
7 days and counting <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Groovin.gif" alt="" />

Are you on a boat? Out of Road Town? If so, I'd just hit Norman, Peter, and Cooper -- all three are great stops. Snorkel the Indians on the way to Norman if you get there early - hit the Caves as well and then pick up a mooring in the Bight. Head to Peter the next day and maybe anchor in Deadmans Bay and enjoy the facilities ashore at Peter Island Beach Resort. On your last day, sail to Cooper and snorkel Cistern. Just my thoughts but others may chime in with different ideas.

It's back at SDB. It's like the mail, it just keeps on coming.

Nothing at all here on Tortola's north shore..

And it's nowhere near as bad as it was a few days ago at SDB.

Thank you for the itinerary suggestions Winterstale! We are on a power cat through the moorings this time. We have never been to Peter so that could be a first. The kids love Jost and SDB, would you avoid it this time if you were us? We are mixing a little business with pleasure therefore the reason for the short trip....somehow I feel a trip extension forthcoming...it is so difficult to leave!

Oh well...now you're talking POWER cat so it's a whole new Oprah - LOL. You could easily zip around and do JVD first, then go to Norman for the Indians and the Caves and finish with Peter...

Soggy cam shows a clean beach today. Has the sargassum retreated or is the beach being cleaned frequently?

We will be in the BVI's in a few weeks and was wondering which of the beaches are the cleanest. We have been to the BVI's many times in the past and would like to return to our favorites but not if they are loaded with seaweed.