‘A new normal’: Miami faces worsening seaweed problem as piles of algae wash up on beaches
Miami-Dade County is struggling to manage record-breaking amounts of sargassum seaweed washing up on local beaches. Officials describe the situation as a 'new normal' exacerbated by the ongoing climate crisis.
Why it matters
The increasing frequency of sargassum blooms impacts tourism, local ecosystems, and municipal budgets, serving as a visible indicator of environmental shifts.
County-hired contractors collect sargassum, a type of algae, after it washed ashore in Miami Beach, Florida, on 11 August 2026. County-hired contractors collect sargassum, a type of algae, after it washed ashore in Miami Beach, Florida, on 11 August 2026. Miami ‘A new normal’: Miami faces worsening seaweed problem as piles of algae wash up on beaches Officials have had to remove thousands of tons of sargassum from Florida’s beaches amid the climate crisis
Prefer the Guardian on Google D ealing with seaweed is the bulk of Chris Bumpus’s job during the summer. As chief of conservation for Miami-Dade county’s parks, recreation and open spaces department, Bumpus is in charge of cleaning sargassum off 17 miles (27km) of county beaches. But some days, the odds are stacked against him and his team.
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