Piles of sargassum seaweed have recently washed up on the East Coast. The large growing algae enveloped the entire beach at Skeete’s Bay in St Philip and left patches of sand at Bath in St John.
On Monday Barbados Meteorological Services announced on their Facebook page that heavy wave activity resulted in huge piles of seaweed also being deposited at Martin’s Bay, St John.
A National Conservation Commission worker stationed at Bath said that sargassum was always present at that beach and the bulk of it appeared earlier this week.
The woman who wished to remain anonymous said that the seaweed was deterring a lot of beachgoers from picnicking there, even though some bathed in the areas where it was not present.
A beach lover Carlos Alleyne said that it was healthy for the ocean, noting that fish followed it because it has a lot of nutrients. He said the seaweed could be used as a fertiliser in organic farming, adding that when it started to decay at the seashore the fumes were unpleasant. (SB)
