Home / Environment / Sargassum Seaweed Blocks Baby Sea Turtles from Reaching Florida Shores
Sargassum Seaweed Blocks Baby Sea Turtles from Reaching Florida Shores
10 Sep
Summary
- Sargassum seaweed blooms trap baby sea turtles, putting them at risk
- Turtles' crawl speed decreases sharply when sargassum blocks their path
- Tallest algae turtles must climb is 7.5 inches, slowing them down
As of September 11th, 2025, researchers have warned that the smelly, brown sargassum seaweed washing up on Florida shores is snaring baby sea turtles on their way to the ocean. This is leaving the tiny reptiles vulnerable to predators and at risk of dehydration and exhaustion.
The hatchlings typically emerge from their nests and race to the ocean under cover of darkness, just a couple of days after they're born. However, the sargassum blooms are making this journey increasingly difficult. Researchers at Florida Atlantic University studied 80 hatchlings from three endangered sea turtle species and found that the turtles' crawl speed decreased sharply when the seaweed was in their path, with loggerheads seeing the most significant slowdown.
The tallest algae the turtles had to climb was 7.5 inches high, but their speed was impacted even by piles less than 10 centimeters tall. The turtles also often flipped upside down while trying to navigate the sargassum, extending the time they spent on the beach and raising their risk of attack or heat exposure.
Experts say these findings could be crucial to supporting the success of Florida's hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, as the sargassum blooms typically occur during the summer months when the hatchlings emerge. This year has seen a particularly severe surge of the seaweed, with 31 million metric tons recorded in the area.
