Cancun, Riviera Maya — Several strings of drift buoys have been placed in waters off the coast of Mexico to help authorities better determine sargassum flows.
The buoys have been placed in waters along the coast which will eventually reach the municipalities of Benito Juárez, Puerto Morelos, Solidaridad, Tulum, Felipe Carillo Puerto and Cozumel, allowing authorities to study the sargassum route.
The Secretariat of the Navy explained that the project is in conjunction with the General Directorate of Oceanography, Hydrography and Meteorology of the Secretariat of the Navy of Mexico together with researchers and technicians and staff from the Institute of Oceanological Research of the Autonomous University of Baja California.
The project, they say, is a test phase where the drift buoys will help to locate and identify the trajectory of sargassum aggregations. The buoys have a compact and lightweight design and are outfitted with intelligent telemetry, which allows them to send their geographical position via satellite thanks to their resistant components and photocells, which keep the instruments powered with sustainable autonomy for several months.
By being released in a large group of sargassum at strategically located points, it will allow officials to follow the trajectory of sargassum and to determine the behavior in the marine currents in the Caribbean area for future reference so they can anticipate ahead of time, where the sargassum will land.