Playa del Carmen, Q.R. — Authorities in Riviera Maya are looking for a way to divert the continuous flow of incoming sargassum. Local officials say they are working to understand seaweed behavior to be able to divert it away from the coast.
Offner Arjona, President of the Small Hotel Association (Asociación de Pequeños Hoteles) said each year, hotels are spending approximately 15 percent of their annual budget on sargassum removal.
Each beachfront hotel is responsible for removing sargassum that makes landfall on the beach in front of their property. Arjona says given the amount of seaweed, hotels could spend even more of their annual budget on seaweed maintenance this year.
“I believe that of the annual budget we have, it is already reaching 15 percent of the budget for maintenance costs,” he said.
He also noted that the hotels are working with researchers to understand the behavior of the sargassum and its transit toward the Mexican Caribbean to divert it.
“We are investigating how the currents in Playa del Carmen work to try to generate a current that might improve the issue of sargassum washing ashore,” he noted without detailing any particular project.
Until a sea current diversion is engineered, Playa del Carmen Mayor Estefanía Mercado says more marines are on their way. Over the weekend, she reported 300 additional sets of hands will arrive to help clear beaches of washed up sargassum.
The Marina personnel are being sent to Riviera Maya to reinforce collection efforts both on beaches and at sea.
The mayor explained that the municipal government is working “at full speed” to address one of the main environmental and tourism challenges currently facing the city.
Mercado highlighted that Playa del Carmen has one of the longest coastlines in Quintana Roo, a situation that increases the impact of the seaweed runoff due to the ocean currents that carry it to this area.
Mayor Merdaco said the additional marines are being sent in response to a recent meeting with the Navy to step-up sargassum cleaning and containment efforts.
She reported approximately 300 marines will support the collection of sargassum at different points along the Playa del Carmen coastline.
