Isla Mujeres, Q.R. — An intense sargassum cleanup is now finished on beaches of Isla Mujeres. In three days, more than 580 tons was removed after washing up due to a week of bad weather.
Around 250 people, along with at least one backhoe and several dump trucks, attended to the collection of the sargassum that continued to arrive despite their manpower efforts.
Isla Mujeres crews began their removal project Wednesday after torrential rains hit the island Tuesday night leaving streets under water and two main beaches covered in seaweed.
Municipal workers removed approximately 100 tons of the wet algae in the first 24 hours, however, continued bad weather has meant the continued arrival of sargassum.
Isla Mujeres City Hall says around 250 people that included paid municipal workers, state police and military help along with island volunteers, worked on removing what washed up.
“In response to the challenge of the atypical arrival of sargassum in Isla Mujeres, the Municipal Government, headed by Mayor Atenea Gómez Ricalde, continued to address the contingency that began Wednesday where more than 150 tons of the seaweed had been removed.
Gómez supervised the work early in the morning where more than 250 people, including City Hall workers, Zofemat Isla Mujeres personnel, fishermen and volunteers, joined to remove the sargassum that continued to wash up until Saturday.
The Mayor made it clear that the affectation only covered about 150 linear meters of the north beach and not the entire public beach, emphasizing that the beaches remain open to the public and there is no problem in Playa Centro for the enjoyment of locals and tourists.
“In order to keep the beaches of the municipality clean, tidy and free of sargassum in the face of the atypical seaweed wash-up that occurred a few days ago as a result of adverse weather, the Municipal Government, through Zofemat Isla Mujeres, has strengthened the actions to collect seaweed from the sand,” she said in a statement.
The Mayor explained that the atypical seaweed wash-up occurred in Playa Norte, for which she immediately gave instructions to activate the sargassum operation to provide a solution and restore the beauty of this emblematic beach of Isla Mujeres that is visited by thousands of tourists and island families.
“We have activated this operation to which collaborators from all the departments of the City Council, fishermen from the Temporary Employment Program, the Mexican Navy, street vendors and local merchants have joined, who are supporting and teaming up with our Zofemat warriors,” said Atenea Gómez.
Dayana Alejandra Pérez Medina, the Director of Isla Mujeres Zofemat, said from Wednesday to Friday, “we removed 364 tons of sargassum, however, the cleanup continued until the beach was completely free of sargassum.”
As of mid-day Saturday, cleaning crews completed the sargassum removal after having pitchforked, shoveled, netted and collected by hand, 583 tons of sargassum from the affected areas of Playa Norte, which extends from Nabalam to the Hotel Mía, she reported Saturday afternoon.
