Ambergris Caye: First the Sargasso and Now Trash? Our Sea Should Be #1

Just after last week’s storm, the beaches were clear and fresh.  Seaweed/algae had been swept away and so had a whole bunch of sand.

But as the winds righted themselves and the ocean calmed, the sargassum came in with a fury and then…freaking TRASH!

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One day thousands of bottles and then the next…hunks of foam and styrofoam.

Here is an area about 4 miles north…a beach that has been left “natural”.  (It is not raked on a daily or even weekly basis.)

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In some areas, like coves or beach fronts that have been dredged or have holding structures, the seaweed piles up for 10s of feet.  I decided to do some forensic work…

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But first, take a look at this article…

Yesterday, a reader sent me a super SUPER interesting write-up.  Mexico Deploys Its Navy to Face Its Latest Threat:  Monster Seaweed in the Washington Post.  A great read, it talks about how the island of Tobago has officially named sargasso a national disaster.  About how Cancun considers it a “cabinet level crisis” – and is bringing in the maritime authorities and the navy to help find a solution.

They are attacking this tourism-buster from all fronts including:   Cancun gave local boozers the chance to leave the town drunk tank early if they put in time on the seaweed chain-gangs.

We have been suffering all year – and resort owners have been VALIANTLY fighting – many of their beaches are clean but it is taking tons of effort.  There are local clean-up crews each weekend – from The Phoenix Resort cleaning the town to the Tres Cocos neighborhood beach clean-up on the first Friday of each month.

And we are in ELECTION TIME – our new leaders are elected November 4th.  THIS should be a HUGE TOPIC on our elected leaders’ minds.

Oceana and Island Films just made this video…It’s about one minute long and TOTALLY worth watching.  If you’ve visited, you’ll probably recognize a bunch of people.

No Drilling for Offshore Oil but it’s not just that.  In my opinion, we need more.

Okay…back to my forensic work.

Raptor Energy Drink.  Guatemala.

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Guatemala.

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Okay…a bit of a stumper.

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We’ve all heard the reasons for trash before…the cruise ships dump it (ummm…maybe…but not this trash), it washes down the rivers from Honduras and Guatemala.  Yes…probably.  This stuff has been in the water a while.

Blame doesn’t really help that much.  We have our own litter problems in Belize.  All I know is that this is a massive mess.   And the sargasso is a problem that we (and the entire Caribbean basin) have been battling for over a year now.

We need a plan.  And our government should be looking VERY closely at one – I think we should demand it.

Is Belize going to solve the problem of world-wide pollution and the strange movement of the sargasso sea?  Most likely no.  But we can have a plan.  And a unified front.  We are serious about litter and waste disposal and WE CARE ABOUT THE OCEAN.  We care about the livelihood of Belizeans.

Like the video says “the ocean is our way of life” – how we all make our livings on this island.  The reason we are here.

8am.  Saturday morning.  The Phoenix.  If you want to join their next clean-up crew.

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