Environmental Issues

Excess seaweed on the shore confuses nesting turtles, traps turtle hatchlings, creates noxious H₂S fumes, causes beach erosion from manual removal, and brings trapped plastics ashore.

Health Issues

Humans and marine life experience adverse health effects from sargassum build up. Decaying seaweed produces large amounts of toxic gas, including hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) and ammonia (NH3).

Tourism Issues

The adverse impact of the sargassum invasion on regional tourism is an order of magnitude greater than the costs borne by individual property owners along Half Moon Bay (HMB). And, of course, the impact of these harms boomerangs back to indirectly impact us all.

Impact on Local Economy

Of course, when the tourism industry falls, there are significant impacts to the livelihoods of local residents from cleaning staff to fishermen. And with little or no social safety net, all residents suffer and crime rates can also rise, which threatens the security of locals and tourists alike.

Impact on Property Owners

Property owners on suffer increased costs and declining revenues from:

Beach cleanup costs
Equipment Damage from H₂S fumes
Lost Rental Income
Depreciating Property Values
Crumbling Infrastructure