Playa del Carmen is again registering an increase in the arrival of sargassum, which has put the Mexican Caribbean on alert level 7, meaning that it is overabundant, according to the latest bulletin from the Mexican Secretariat of the Navy (Semar).
“The sargassum accumulates in less than 24 hours in mounds 70 to 90 centimeters high, covering almost the entire beach area and making it impossible to move on foot or with machines,” according to the traffic light and the criteria of the “Scale for Estimating the Landing of Sargassum on the Beaches of the Mexican Caribbean, developed by this oceanographic institute,” Semar said.
The most affected beaches were Playa El Recodo, Mamitas, Shangri-la and the beaches from Calle 12 to Piñatas, as they had a significant amount of sargassum this Saturday.
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However, on Saturday, workers from the Solidaridad Federal Maritime Terrestrial Zone Directorate (Zofemat) managed to remove about 14 tons of macroalgae from El Recodo beach, but some continued to arrive.
As reported by REPORTUR.mx, according to the forecast of the University of Florida, the Mexican Caribbean will have a greater arrival of Sargassum this year than in previous years, but the affected beaches will have months with less presence of the macroalgae.
These months with less sargassum on the coasts of Quintana Roo are from September to March and it will have more presence in the center and south of the state, but it will be less in Cancun and Isla Mujeres.