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Sargassum Report 2023 Review

Happy New Year and may you have a blessed and prosperous 2024! 2023 was a marginally significant year for Sargassum, with an average monthly abundance across the Western Atlantic and Caribbean Region of 6.8 M tons representing almost a 30% decrease from the monthly average of sargassum observed in 2022.

In 2023, Sargassum quantities observed via Satellite peaked in March and April, with a steady decline until October/November 2023. However, this wasn’t always the situation observed locally, as throughout periods of 2023 outside of the months of March and April, Antigua and Barbuda experienced large amounts of Sargassum. This was especially noticeable in late August and early September, when large amounts of Sargassum entered harbours within the Nelson Dockyard National Park leading to massive beaching, oxygen depletion and fish kills. December 2023, like December of 2022 and 2020 has once again shown an increase in Sargassum quantities observed.

The University of South Florida Optical Oceanography Lab has been examining satellite images to track the Sargassum blooms over the years, and states: “The wet weight of Sargassum detected in December was just under 5 million metric tons (compared to roughly 1 million tons in November). Although we predicted an increase in the November 2023 bulletin, the magnitude of this growth is notable, with the December 2023 abundance representing a historical record for December”. The maps below, with warm colours representing high abundance, highlight the years 2020 to 2023.