Sargassum block: seaweed engulfs popular bathing spot

Enterprise Beach, a popular and peaceful spot known to residents as Miami Beach, is being choked by a thick, impassable carpet of sargassum seaweed, with the murky waters keeping most swimmers on shore and taking a bite out of business for nearby vendors.

(Photo credit: Shamar Blunt / Barbados TODAY)

When a Barbados TODAY team visited the Oistins beach, only a handful of people were seen venturing into the water, while large piles of sargassum lined the shoreline and drifted just offshore.

Despite the conditions, three elderly men were seen attempting to enjoy a quick swim.

One suggested: “Remove it all the time, you know, that’s the only way I feel they would get rid of it,” he said, suggesting tractors be used to remove and transport the sargassum.

“I went to Mexico and it was high, man,” he said. “They got the tractors coming and taking it up and carrying it away.”

For those who depend on the beach for their livelihoods, the worsening conditions are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

David Knight, chef and operator of the Tacos on the Bay food truck, said the recurring seaweed buildup had already taken a toll on his business.

David Knight, chef and operator of the Tacos on the Bay food truck (Photo credit: Shamar Blunt / Barbados TODAY)

“The sargassum definitely slowed the business down,” he said, calling on authorities to take greater action to clean the beach.

Knight, who has operated in the area for about two years, said the heavy buildup is a recurring problem.

“Usually around this time; January, February, it was here before and then it left and it came back again.”

He said efforts by himself and others in the area to get authorities to address the problem had so far proved futile.

“I called up [National Conservation Commission],” Knight said, claiming that he was told “part of the beach is contracted out”.

“To tell you the honest truth, they don’t pay attention to it, man,” he said.

He declared that too much attention was being centred around the main beach at the Oistins’s Bay Gardens, while Enterprise has been left suffering in the shadows.

The once highly popular Enterprise Beach was for the most party empty of persons despite it being summer time (Photo credit: Shamar Blunt / Barbados TODAY)

Knight, a returning national who spent about 40 years in the United States, also called for more investment in Enterprise Beach, including additional stalls and food options.

“Having some more stalls here [and] more food options would be a great asset to the beach as well,” he said.

He also urged greater police presence in the area, claiming that three tourists had been robbed since he began operating there.

Barbados has been grappling with significant sargassum influxes since 2011, with the recurring problem posing challenges for beaches, fisheries, coastal communities and tourism.

The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt has reached near-record levels in recent weeks, following the historic highs set last year. Vast mats of brown seaweed continue to blanket shores across the Caribbean, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and parts of Florida, disrupting coastal ecosystems, emitting pungent hydrogen sulphide odour – similar to rotten eggs – as it decays.

The government has repeatedly pledged to step up its response, including plans for offshore collection, as massive blooms continue to wash ashore.

UWI Cave Hill scientist Dr Bidyut Mohapatra’s discovery of three new microorganisms in decomposing sargassum and the successful trial of a biofuel project by another UWI researcher, Dr. Legena Henry, also raised hopes that the persistent coastal nuisance could eventually become a resource for biotechnology and other industries.

Barbados TODAY understands that the responsibility for sargassum clean-up falls to the Ministry of Environment rather than the National Conservation Commission, which oversees the nation’s parks and beaches.

Ministry officials could not be reached for comment on the situation at Enterprise.

(SB)