A New Invention & Approach to the Sargassum Problem
Last August, I got a message from Chris. He lives almost 4 miles south of San Pedro and his property is beachfront. And he spends a good deal of time thinking about sargassum. Sargassum, the sea grass/algae that has been inundating the shores of Ambergris Caye, the Yucatan, and most of the Caribbean for over 10 years now. Tons and tons of the stuff. And it’s only been getting worse…
Chris wanted to show me something he was working on…a machine with a wooden frame.
Here’s his story: Chris Miser owns a brewpub north of Denver and splits his time between Colorado and Ambergris Caye, where he’s been building out a property and a new business. His background is in engineering – mechanical and aeronautical, both through the Air Force – and he spent years doing hands-on aircraft and drone work before starting his own drone manufacturing company in 2007. He ran that until 2016 when he opened the brewpub.
The idea for the Sargassum Slayer came to him in early 2025 while he was staying at Royal Palms for a few months during the construction of his first casita. He knew sargassum was a problem, but seeing how bad it got there – and realizing there were no efficient solutions – he saw an opportunity. He’s been building and testing prototypes ever since, first in Colorado, then rebuilding them here to test at his property.
The wooden-frame version Jeff and I saw was the 2.0 🙂 It was Jeff who suggested switching to aluminum and pointed Chris toward the right resources in Belize. Chris already knew how to weld – he just had to learn aluminum welding, so he did. His bigger goal is to eventually manufacture the Sargassum Slayer right here on Ambergris Caye, using Belizean materials and labor, with specialty hardware sourced from the States.
So last August, Chris got me thinking about sargassum in a totally new way. Let me quickly explain how…and then show you his invention. I promise…I’ll get there!
Every time I post photos or articles about sargassum – I get SOOOO many comments from folks with well-meaning suggestions. “You should use it as fuel!…fertilizer! “You can make it into building bricks” “You can feed it to farm animals”.
There was even an article in the San Pedro Sun that a Chilean company might be interested in buying our garbage and sargassum. (I have SO many questions about that…like…doesn’t Chile have enough garbage? How could it be economically feasible to ship trash 3000 miles….)
And those ideas are fine. They require lots of money, lots of resources, lots of testing and time. I don’t think that we are going to find a super-lucrative way to use sargassum…one that will motivate folks to clean the stuff up as soon as it comes in. Maybe one day…maybe.
Our biggest THE BIGGEST issue, one that feels more tackle-able is: How can we get it out of the water?
Because getting this stuff out of the water, before it turns to smelly, thick, disgusting sludge – that makes beaches unusable…that gives off a noxious odor…that endangers wildlife and the reef…is the #1 goal.
Maybe we need to stop focusing (or focus less) on a huge magical cure.
That’s where Chris’ new device comes in. It makes removing sargassum from the water more efficient…faster…and easier. And THAT is priceless as far as I’m concerned.
I went down to Caribbean Villas Beach this morning to see him properly test The Slayer. Chris put aside the wooden frame and replaced it with aluminum. It now has wheels. And a very good-looking cart that fits perfectly below the device.
The usual way of cleaning up sargassum is many steps. Water to beach pile, beach pile to cart. Often scooping lots of sand in the process and causing serious beach erosion. Instead of the big/ heavy lifts and pivots TWICE, all heaving this HEAVY wet sargassum with your pitchfork…with this new device, you are more…guiding it onto the belt.
I’d estimate 3-4x faster and much, much more efficient. It can also lift the sargassum over a seawall…even into a high vehicle.
Take a look. Chris will be using this all week at Caribbean Villas – they have a great set-up because they also installed a barrier that angles so the sargassum “slides” down the beach. And is concentrated in one area…easier for pick-up.
Take a look and let me know what you think. Chris will be using it at Caribbean Villas a bunch this week if you want to go take a look and ask all the technical questions you want to ask him. You can WhatsApp him at +1(303) 903-4571 to make sure he’ll be there.
I love it. And MAN DO WE NEED IT.
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Another view.
Let’s get this stuff out of the water! It’s the number one priority. And this is a HUGE help. Reach out to Chris…this is a HUGE help.
What smart design. Here is the Slayer and the aluminum cart.
Please note, I am not discounting AT ALL anyone who has ideas how to get rid of this stuff…I would love it if we could use it as fertilizer (but it’s filled with toxic metals and plastics and salt – tons of fresh water and tons of space would be needed just to get started) or as a fuel or anything. Any and all solutions…no matter how big or how small…would be amazing.
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This looks pretty darn effective and efficient. I imagine it would be fairly inexpensive to build and would keep the sand at the beach instead of raked up with the sargassum.
This is amazing! I hope local businesses and the San Pedro Town Council reach out to Chris to purchase some of these.
Could the Slayer conveyor be placed into the water just enough so the pitchfork guys could just guide the sargassum onto the belt, rather than lifting and tossing it. It seems that would ease and speed the loading process – and save my aching back!
Yes. But when we test it today the sargassum was too thick at the start of the water so we spent all of our time cutting a path deeper into the water. The whole point of the machine is to save/reduce the heavy lifting and let the motor do that work so you can be more efficient.
Here is what AI says are some design features of a sargasm removal system.
You’re basically imagining a cross between a small excavator, a conveyor, and a boat. Here are the key design features it would likely have:
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1. Way of capturing the sargassum in the water
• Guiding boom or net:
Floating booms or mesh “fences” that corral sargassum into a narrower band so the machine can grab a dense stream instead of scattered clumps.
• Front intake zone:
A wide, low front mouth that skims the surface—like a scoop or shallow conveyor—so it pulls in floating mats without digging into the seabed.
• Height and angle adjustment:
Ability to raise/lower the intake to match tide, wave height, and thickness of the sargassum layer.
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2. Lifting and conveying system
• Conveyor belt with cleats or paddles:
A stainless or corrosion‑resistant belt that lifts wet sargassum from the water up to shore, with cleats so it doesn’t slide back.
• Open, draining belt:
Perforated or mesh belt so water drains out quickly, reducing weight and mess on shore.
• Variable speed drive:
Adjustable conveyor speed to match how fast sargassum is arriving and avoid jams.
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3. Platform and mobility
You’ve got two main concepts—water-based or shore-based.
• Floating barge/boat version:• Shallow draft hull: So it can work close to shore without grounding.
• Side or bow-mounted conveyor: Reaches into the sargassum line and lifts it onto the deck or into a barge.
• Maneuverable propulsion: Twin outboards or thrusters for precise positioning along the sargassum line.
• Shore-based machine:• Tracked or wide-tire undercarriage: To move on soft sand without sinking.
• Long reach arm or boom conveyor: Extends from shore into the water to grab sargassum just offshore.
• Articulated boom: So the operator can “sweep” along the waterline without constantly repositioning the machine.
Please don’t feed the AI slop around.
When AI spends 15K US on multiple prototypes and a year of tireless design work and learns to design, shop, carry stuff down to Belize, cut, drill, weld, and run a pitchfork then I am all ears.
Chris is a genius!! ❤️
I like this idea a lot. More guiding than lifting. I can also see a bigger model where the conveyor belt is tall enough to load into a dump truck. Love the progress.
Lots of options in the future and that is one of them as well as a shallow water version but we must crawl before we walk and start with the initial version. I’m already in touch with a friend with a dump truck regarding that version.
Chris this is an awsome tool. Great idea to help the Island and locals. Also for you (hopefully) opening a business to build them right there. I hope the Town Council will act on this instead of having excuses or sittting on their hands and not do anything.
So many pluses.
Wonderful labor saving device. The Achilles heel is to prevent all the parts from corrosion. Miami has conveyor belts like this that are attached to small barge like vessels. They idle up and down the river scooping up trash and filling the barge. The next problem is where to deposit this stuff so it does not trash the whole island. All that happens is the sargassum is moved inland and dumped along the main road. I DO NOT want to disparage Mr Miser’s ingenuity and prowess. Mass producing these conveyors will save the labor force’s back and enable more sargassum to be collected and disposed of with the hope of keeping the east beaches clean. Clean beaches mean happy tourists.
I am still spitballing a solution to dispose or use this stuff. Probably too toxic to make into bricks and burn in a steam generated power pksnt.
Robert, This machine is aluminum construction for the significant majority. The bearings are specialty sealed stainless steel bearings and the produced version will use 316SS. That said it about corrosion resistant as possible short of building it from titanium. Town Council does have a storage problem that they need to resolve but smart property owners tend to have figured that out like Caribbean Villas. Believe me if we can get the collection problem solved then my next engineering efforts will be going towards the downstream end but as I see it we need to figure out how to collect it before we can start solving what to do with it.
Nice going. Appreciate your realistic bite size approach and your common sense achievable steps. Looking forward to following your journey and hope SPTC will facilitate you rather than resent outside innovation
Awesome and ingenious. Way to go Chris!
With the correct equipment the sargassum can be collected before it gets to the beach. Check out this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YS4t_AjtTA
“Correct” for one location may not be correct for another. Yes this system would work, during calm weather, if you had a fleet of these and the barricade system shown in the video. Unfortunately that certainly won’t work on Ambergris Caye given the barricade system blocks boat traffic from the reef and it would affect the coral inside the reef where it is located. The other question is cost of these systems? For every collector you would need multiple “trailer” vessels because those trailer vessels are gonna need to take a 30-60 round trip to shore to unload and return. So again what is the upfront cost for a fleet of these things and not to mention the long term sustainment costs and upkeep.
If the sargassum is mulched up when scooped up you would need significantly less space to dispose of it. Rather like leaf suckers . It sucks up and mulches at the same time. I love a cleaver invention. Invent on Chris !!!!🤔😉
Eva, This is certainly an idea I have toyed with but I always come to the same conclusion that it will very most likely become clogged due to the wetness of the sargassum and the wet sargassum would also very quickly dull the blades of any mulcher or grinder. I would need weeks to dry to the point. But I believe I do have an idea that would work but I can’t divide my resources at this time as we are focused on fielding a manufacturable design.
Progress! Finding solutions for this issue before it arrives near the shore should be where future efforts need to be concentrated and invested in. Until then, anything that saves time and effort is welcome.
The innovation process takes time. I applaud your open mind to feedback. You will be successful . As I said before …INVENT ON CHRIS!!!!
Big improvement! I like Richard’s video. Sargassum is a huge problem affecting many countries. It’s going to take industrial scale approaches to mitigate the problem. How about a collective effort from numerous countries to study the problem, prevention, collection, disposal,
Fun to see a connection to a local Brew Pub (I live just a few miles form his pub… Great Pizza!) And being from a land locked state like Colorado, where we NEVER have sargassum, it takes a great mind to think of ways to mitigate the problem. Way to Go Chris! (David from Broomfield)
This is an exciting way to solve a stinky problem. The way to solve the disposal is tricky given the toxic elements and whatnot in the weeds. The NIMBY problem is big, but if there were a way to dry it out while preventing it from leaking the poisons into the groundwater or ocean, then once it is dry it can be bailed and kept indefinitely. Once someone clever finds a way to convert it to Something Useful it will be there for the taking. But on the islands, space is a concern and you definitely don’t want leachate poisoning limited fresh water or producing concentrated runoff into agricultural lands or into the waters.
Drat – we missed it! We walked down to see the cool new contraption in action on Thursday afternoon, and it must’ve already been gone!
We’ll be around. I’m heading back to the US for two weeks and then back to get some parts and finish the production design to manufacture next trip. Otherwise just DM us at Sargassum Slayer on facebook. Cheers, Chris