Record Sargassum Seaweed Hits Atlantic and Mexico

Massive amounts of brown, stinky seaweed are washing up on beaches across the Atlantic, and this year's sargassum seaweed problem is smashing all previous records. Scientists who track this stuff say 2025 is shaping up to be worse than the crazy year of 2022.

Atlantic seaweed blooms have exploded to 37.5 million metric tons floating around the ocean - that's an incredible amount of seaweed drifting toward vacation beaches. The biggest concentrations are sitting in the eastern Caribbean Sea and western Atlantic, but currents are pushing all that brown mess toward shorelines.

Where It's Hitting Now

Mexico beach seaweed has already started piling up along the eastern coast, with videos showing thick mats of it covering what should be white sand beaches. Puerto Rico got hammered in early June with piles of rotting seaweed that stink up entire coastlines.

Beach seaweed problem areas include Miami, which NOAA listed as "high risk" for sargassum impacts. Mexico's eastern shore is also high-risk, and tourists are finding their beach vacations ruined by mountains of smelly seaweed.