Riviera Maya, Q.R. — More than 10,000 tons of sargassum has been removed from Riviera Maya beaches already this year. The director of the Federal Maritime Terrestrial Zone (Zofemat), Marco Loeza Pacheco reported that in recent days, winds from the east-southeast lead to its accumulation on several Playa del Carmen beaches.
He says the beaches hardest hit by the wind shift have been El Recodo, Playa Caribe to Calle 6, Playa Xcalacoco, Punta Esmeralda and Playa 88. This year, 10,181 tons of the pesky algae has already been removed manually.
He says 120 Zofemat workers monitor the beaches seven days a week, manually removing algae that makes landfall. Their work is supported by light machinery.
In Cancun, the scene is similar with the mayor Mara Lezama saying that so far in 2021, they city has already removed an equivalent amount to what landed in all of 2020.
In the southern region of the state around Mahaual and Xcalak, excessive mounds of sargassum also continues to make landfall.
