Each month, the Extension Service publishes a newsletter about its exciting programs and events both past and upcoming. See what we are doing and how you can become involved.
For our August 2019 newsletter, we featured an update on the Sargassum algae hitting Florida Keys beaches and canals this year, from our Sea Grant Agent Shelly Krueger!
"This summer you may have noticed brown seaweed floating in the water and along the shorelines of the Florida Keys. What is it, and why is it coming to shore? The seaweed is a type of open-ocean brown algae, called sargassum. Another common name for sargassum is gulfweed, and while some species also grow on the bottom like kelp (another type of brown algae), once it breaks off from the bottom it floats to the surface and stays afloat with gas-filled berrylike bladders. Once it floats to the surface, it remains there and continues to grow on the surface of the open ocean in massive accumulations in an area of the North Atlantic Ocean called the Sargasso Sea. The Sargasso Sea is between the United States and West Africa, bordered on the western side by the Gulf Stream..."
To read the article, and find events and programs of the Extension Service, check out the August 2019 Newsletter!