Seaweed. This is so cool. By the way, I have difficulty communicating because I had a stroke in Broca’s area, the part of the brain that controls speech. 2/8/2021 but I lived again. (My wife helped me compose this.)
Sargassum (F. Sargassaceae) is an important seaweed excessively distributed in tropical and subtropical regions. Different species of Sargassum have folk applications in human nutrition and are considered a rich source of vitamins, carotenoids, proteins, and minerals. Many bioactive chemical compounds that are classified as terpenoids, sterols, sulfated polysaccharides, polyphenols, sargaquinoic acids, sargachromenol, and pheophytin were isolated from different Sargassum species. These isolated compounds and/or extracts exhibit diverse biological activities, including analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, neuroprotective, anti-microbial, anti-tumor, fibrinolytic, immune-modulatory, anticoagulant, hepatoprotective, and anti-viral activities.[7]The Florida Keys and mainland South Florida are well known for the high levels of Sargassum covering their shores. Sargassum or gulfweed was observed by Columbus. Although the seaweed acquired a legendary reputation for covering the entirety of the Sargasso Sea, making navigation impossible,[4] it has since been found to occur only in drifts.[5]en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargassum
The Florida Keys and mainland South Florida are well known for the high levels of Sargassum covering their shores. Sargassum or gulfweed was observed by Columbus. Although the seaweed acquired a legendary reputation for covering the entirety of the Sargasso Sea, making navigation impossible,[4] it has since been found to occur only in drifts.[5]Sargassum (F. Sargassaceae) is an important seaweed excessively distributed in tropical and subtropical regions. Different species of Sargassum have folk applications in human nutrition and are considered a rich source of vitamins, carotenoids, proteins, and minerals. Many bioactive chemical compounds that are classified as terpenoids, sterols, sulfated polysaccharides, polyphenols, sargaquinoic acids, sargachromenol, and pheophytin were isolated from different Sargassum species. These isolated compounds and/or extracts exhibit diverse biological activities, including analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, neuroprotective, anti-microbial, anti-tumor, fibrinolytic, immune-modulatory, anticoagulant, hepatoprotective, and anti-viral activities.[7]en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargassum
This seaweed reminds me of when my aquarium didn't have stable conditions where there was too much fish waste (nitrogen) in the water causing algal blooms, so I guess the oceans are now filthy but the seaweed just as the algae in my aquarium is a blessing in disguise because they suck up the waste for their own growth with makes in turn more waste get to be absorbed.
I find it strange that they are doing everything EXCEPT looking at the root cause of the problem in order to find the solution. Stop chopping down the rain forest to plant GMO-SOY, of all things! stop with the out of date and backwards, toxic, and industrial-based agriculture which is only destroying the planet. There are healthy, sustainable and environmentally friendly agriculture methods that need to replace toxic and un-sustainable industrial-based agriculture! The rain forest needs to be protected and preserved, not slashed and burned out of existence, only to produce a few years of farming, because the soil is not conducive to long-term agriculture, and then it's useless.
I wish it made good fertilizer like kelp does. Its a shame. Maybe there is a way to clean it, what are the arsenic levels if you wash it, does it make a difference? Where does the arsenic come from? What if you burn it, making biochar, or perhaps a nutrient rich ash.
Put a solar thermal array on the deck of an old super tanker and float around converting excess seaweed to pyrolysis oil for biodiesel production. The carbon char byproduct, if not suitable for agricultural use on land, can go back into the ocean and will stay in that form for centuries if its lifespan if terra preta is any indication.
Cool idea. But from my point of view those algae are just saacking Up all the shit we throw to the sea and making sure It doesn't harm other life in the sea.
@@Hansulf If there are heavy metals trapped in the carbon char that is the best way to deal with them. Charcoal or char takes a very long time to break down as basically nothing "eats" it, but the seaweed itself will get recycled pretty quickly otherwise and that will cause the heavy metals to accumulate in other lifeforms and move up the food chain.
They are talking about utilizing Sargassum to produce biofuels. Would turning Sargassum into small logs for burning possibly cause unhealthy fumes? Thank you for your helpful and informative videos!
Burning anything produces CO2 or NOx, so technically yes. But would it be any worse than firewood? Probably not. The unfortunate part is the US government hates anyone using natural fires because of the emissions. Yet we are still backing cobalt mining at an alarming rate!
@@Coolblaster6 We don't want to be bringing this on land in large scale quantities, including as synthetic fire logs. The heavy metals that Sargassum absorbs would accumulate on land if we did this instead of remaining at sea where it formed. Its just a mass balance. If you burned it, you would effectively concentrate arsenic over time in the location it was combusted.
Seaweed / kelp is becoming an important material in the blue economy... harvest it. Seaweed / kelp has numerous uses and may be suitable for a whole host of uses, such as a fertlizer, prevent methane generation in cows, as a construction material, as a replacement for plastic etc etc. Of course if the ecosystem is out of balance - perhaps due to pollution, nutrient loading or changes in biodiversity - this should be rectified asap. But sustainable seasweed / kelp harvesting could be an important income source for local communities.
There are countries that will have no choice. I've seen the awful mess it leaves and the smell is horrid. Belize and Mexico, to name two countries, are having a significant problem with it. The beaches are covered in feet of it and requires daily removal.
@@samsmom1491 Tx for the info. It can get really difficult when an ecosystem is out of balance as this often has far-reaching multiple impacts. The short-term "solution" is to harvest it, but the long-term goal would be to restore ecosystems & manage irreversible changes. The global commercial seaweed industry is worth about USD 10 billion and expected to grow significantly. Seaweed / kelp is a very useful commodity used in many industries - it's a very versatile product.
These uncontrollable blooms are directly impacted by humans and agricultural production. Therefore, they should also be taken into consideration when dealing with waste by-products of agriculture. I don't think investing in a robot to sink it to the bottom of the ocean, is even feasible, but also there are lots of ways we can first learn to reuse this very directly human waste back into our economy.
A Mexican company is making bricks to build homes, notebooks, planters, shoes, etc out of sargassum, take advantage and create something good out of this calamity.
Sargassum is not Invasive! It is Native to the Atlantic Ocean. It’s been there for 100’s of thousands years, if not Millions of years. Certain types of Caulerpa Macro Algae’s are invasive.
The term invasive also applies to native species that become harmful to their own environment because they’ve spread prolifically or undesirably, usually because of human alterations to their eco system.
They can harvest it and sell it, it'll no only aid the problem but help their economy. it could be used as compose, a source of fuel, dried and eaten; after they clear it of any harmful chemicals of course. I really hope they can find a solution Barbados and the caribbean is so beautiful that everyone should visit at least once in their life, I hate seeing this problem affecting the wonderful scenery of the caribbean.
@@Cingearth yes and thats beautiful, but the overgroth is not only affecting the scenery but the fishes aswell; due to the chemicals that it contains, this is why most of it can't be eaten.
@@syawkcab And this is why I hope that a solution to clear it of any harmful chemical it's found so that it can be use a such rather than just left there which that of itself affects both the environment, the people that live near, reasources, the scenery and the economy.
It has always been in the Atlantic Ocean. There used to be 100 times more of it, but Pollution and do gooders have poisoned and damaged the its natural environment, causing it to break up in mats that drift on the current from the SARGASSUM SEA to the Caribbean and Eastern Atlantic. This is not overgrowth but rather a reflection of the damage we have done.
1. is it poisonous to animals? if not cant it be given freely to farmers etc to feed their livestocks? im sure they're nutritious if they're non toxic. 2. can they be dried and burned as alternative to firelogs? if no dangerous chemicals emitted during burning, that may help offset number of trees being cut as firewood. 3. there are seaweed fertilisers. will these be the same in terms of mineral values? if so wont this be better than harvesting other seaweeds that have been overly harvested?
The massive ocean drift amounts from ag and massive coast-hugging amounts near agriculture production can only be solved when the agriculture use causing contamination is actually solved.
This sea weed improves fertility exponentially in the soils along the coasts. This stuff can be collected and composted to make incredible compost for cheap
My instinct says that this seaweed is possibly a natural adaptation to help heal the damage we have done to the ocean. In nature nothing happens without purpose
with the hope that by then someone will know how to deal with it maybe, the same humans are dealing with our produced radioactive waste, sure feels like that.
I’m not the most educated person in the room I get that, however I’m flabbergasted as to the fact that these world leaders who have all these degrees in all manner of evil can’t realize that we only have one earth and even if we found another one we won’t be able to reach it for a while until we master space travel. So why don’t we love this one the one we are sure about y don’t we just take care of this earth.
didn't you actually watch the video and listen to the scientists? It's loaded with ARSENIC and other heavy metals, likely MERCURY too. It's not edible!
We keep coming up with ideas to buy time, but at this time, we have passed the point of no return unless the entire world changes overnight. Good luck getting that to happen. My children and grandchildren will suffer. I figure I'll be around for maybe another 20 to 30 years and I shudder to think what my twilight years will be like with the deterioration of the environment.
the fishermen in some part of Indonesia make sargassum as good income solution, they making money harvest it from the ocean dry it and export dry sargassum to china for animals feed and fertilizer.
seaweed on the ocean for then 60 years it have happen and no one ever said nothing and by the way all you have to do is collect and dry it and use it on soil about 60 years ago wee use to collect and sale it for soap and other use so what is the problem now don't know haw to use it now?? make bio fuel and lots more
This isn't "nature" playing out. This is *caused* by humans and human agriculture. We need to find a solution to limit the ecological impact of our activities
Pollution, toxic runoff, sewage pond like coastal sea water, rising global and sea temperatures and Catastrophic over development in coastal regions and along the coastlines are more than even the ocean and Marine Life can take. Other nations are responsible also but we (U.S) are at the top of the list for killing off the ocean and Life there. It’s collapsing and happening very swiftly now. #microbialspike
@@theeraphatsunthornwit6266 It's a translucent light green, may appear yellowish. We used to pop the bulbs as little kids on the beach. It made a fun noise lol. The longer it sits in the sun, the darker the color becomes. Brown, to dark green, to black
