[HIGHLIGHTS] More than a decade of damage: sargassum continues to suffocate Caribbean ecosystems

Sargassum blooms in the Caribbean have been increasing since 2011. The algae has exacerbated already existing stress on the region's reefs.

The mats have also blocked sea turtle nesting sites and overwhelmed mangroves. The true extent of the environmental damage it can cause is still not well understood, experts say. The effects of the blooms on the entire region illustrate the implications for the region, says María del Carmen García Rivas, the director of the Puerto Morelos National Reef Park in the Yucatán Peninsula. The area is part of the Mesoamerican Reef System (MAR), which extends along more than 600 miles of coastline in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. The SAM is home to some 500 species of fish and 60 species of stony coral, according to the Global Fund for Nature (WWF). It also supports the economic livelihood of between one and two million people in the region. In fact, a 2021 study published in the scientific journal Climate Change Ecology found that under sargum mats, light filtration decreases by up to 5 degrees Celsius.