Mexico Declares War on Stinky Seaweed
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- Sargassum seaweed is washing onto Mexico's Caribbean coast at record levels — up to 9,000 tons per day — fouling beaches near tourist hubs like Cancún and emitting a rotten-egg smell as it decomposes.
- President Claudia Sheinbaum announced a $115 million cleanup plan last week, with two large ships tasked with capturing the seaweed before it reaches shore.
- Mexico's navy will install 30 miles of containment barriers at sea to trap sargassum offshore, while hundreds of workers on the sand shovel up whatever gets through.
- The decomposing sargassum can threaten cleanup workers' health and is sending tourists back indoors, per the source.
- Sheinbaum acknowledged the existing response has been "titanic" but said Mexico "have to do more to prevent sargassum from reaching the beaches," signaling the cleanup alone isn't enough.
Why it matters: The sargassum surge threatens the Caribbean coastline that anchors Mexico's tourism economy around Cancún, with 9,000 tons arriving daily. Sheinbaum's $115 million plan hedges across offshore capture (ships, 30 miles of barriers) and onshore labor, but her own concession that Mexico "have to do more" underscores that cleanup alone can't keep pace as warming seas fuel the blooms.
