Thangamma, about 80 years old, gathers seaweed off Pananthoppu beach, Pamban island, Tamil Nadu, India. Seaweed extracts are used in a booming global food industry. An estimated 5,000 women gather seaweed in the shallow reefs around Pamban island, which they sell to local factories. Anushree Bhatter for NPR hide caption
Tag: seaweed
Giant blobs of seaweed are hitting Florida. That's when the real problem begins
A large quantity of seaweed, sargassum macroalgae, is floating on the water with vacationing sunbathers at Miami Beach, Fla. Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images It used to be that the conversation around subtropical marine life centered on declines: the death of coral beds, the diminishing
Meet the sargassum belt, a 5,000-mile-long snake of seaweed circling Florida
People remove Sargassum in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, in April, 2022. Researchers expect this year will bring another massive bloom, choking local ecosystems and tourism economies. Elizabeth Ruiz/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Elizabeth Ruiz/AFP via Getty Images People remove Sargassum in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, in April,
A record amount of seaweed is choking shores in the Caribbean
Seaweed covers the Atlantic shore in Frigate Bay, St. Kitts and Nevis, on Wednesday. A record amount of seaweed is smothering Caribbean coasts from Puerto Rico to Barbados. Ricardo Mazalan/AP hide caption toggle caption Ricardo Mazalan/AP Seaweed covers the Atlantic shore in Frigate Bay, St. Kitts and Nevis, on Wednesday.