Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt

[4] As of 2023, the belt is estimated to weigh about 5.5 million metric tonnes and extends 5,000 miles (8,000 km), stretching from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico.

That’s not really what it is,” says Barnes, who says that the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt is really a series of many small blobs with individual patches that are as large as an acre.

Smushed together, he adds, it would be roughly the size of Delaware.Due to the smell, the attracted insects, and the sheer amount of it piling up on beaches, the Sargassum Belt has a negative impact on communities in the Caribbean, and West Africa.

[11] The buildup of Sargassum is caused by nutrients flowing into the Atlantic from water discharged by the Amazon and upwelling currents off West Africa.

The Sargassum Belt has also been found to possess lower biodiversity than the Sargasso Sea and is mainly composed of more highly nutrient-efficient organisms.