Stinky Seaweed? Volusia County Officials Share the Upside

– Sargassum is a genus of seaweeds that wash onto shore.

– The seaweed can extend along the seashore for miles.

– The County does not remove the seaweed from the coastline.

– Sargassum seaweeds have a natural affinity for drawing in wind-blown sand, which helps restore our beach’s lost elevation.

– Despite its unattractive presence and odor, it is vital to our coastal ecosystem.

– In balanced amounts, these seaweeds also naturally provide nutrients such as carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus to the shoreline waters.

– Crustaceans travel in the Sargassum seaweed, providing food and nutrients to shoreline avian life.

– The seaweed has small air-filled pockets that make it buoyant in the water, which also helps to attract marine life beneath its surface.

– Sargassum seaweed’s unattractive presence and odor don’t last long, depending on the amount that has washed ashore, and deteriorates as the organic matter naturally decomposes.

– If left alone, the terrestrial seeds known as “sea beans,” sometimes transported by the Sargassum seaweed, can grow into plants that further stabilize the beach system and habitat for many types of wildlife.

– Beachgoers are encouraged to remove trash or litter the seaweed has collected on its journey, but to otherwise avoid disturbing it and let nature take its course.