Sargassum seaweed is starting to wash up on Coastal Bend beaches, and a lot more of the brown algae is expected to arrive very soon.
While the seaweed can help accumulate sand and grow the beach out, it also brings a few negative side effects.
"It can fill up marinas it makes it real hard to get boats in and out of there," Jace Tunnell, Director of Community Engagement at the Harte Research Institute, said.
The algae, which grows in the Atlantic and other oceans, is also known for producing a strong stench.
"Hydrogen sulfide... it smells like rotten eggs," Tunnell said.
It's less odorous in the spring but when summer months hit you can expect a pungent scent wafting across the shore.
"And you come out to the beach and it's 95 degrees out here and the stuff is just baking thick and rotting... that's when you're going to smell it," Tunnell said.
Getting up close and personal with the floral floaters can also cause skin irritation.
"It does leave you itchy for a little while," Tunnell said.
Despite its flaws, sargassum is an important part of the environment. Tunnell says the seaweed is not just part of the ecosystem, but an ecosystem in and of itself.
"It's like a forest floating out there," Tunnell said.
"You have all these organisms living in and around it to protect themselves. There's everything from Nudibranchs which are those sea slugs, shrimp, crabs, and fun stuff like that," Tunnell said.
While the sargassum itself is usually harmless, beachgoers should be careful of what might be lurking inside.
"You just gotta watch your kids make sure they don't touch any Man-O-War's that are in there," Tunnell said.
Because of the diverse marine life it carries, the seaweed can serve as an outside-of-school science lesson for kids. I asked Tunnell if it makes for a good coastal experiment.
"Oh yeah that's the perfect exercise for that," Tunnell said.
"What a lot of people think is 'Oh this is the worst thing ever.' You turn it into something fun like an adventure and going out and finding different organisms you haven't seen before," Tunnell said.
Whether you want to avoid the sargassum or find more of it, you can track its movement by visiting this website, which shows live areas experiencing high levels of the seaweed.
For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.
Catch all the KRIS 6 News stories and more on our YouTube page. Subscribe today!
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
