Photo: Getty Images
A giant blob of seaweed is making its way across the Atlantic Ocean and could make landfall along the Texas coastline, ABC 13 reports. The bloom of seaweed is estimated to be about 5,000 miles long and weigh over 10 million tons. It was most recently spotted in the Dominican Republic and the Florida Keys, according to multiple reports on social media.
It's unclear exactly how much seaweed could wash up in Galveston, but researchers expect it to arrive "later this year," the Houston Chronicle reports, citing a report from Anna Armitage, a marine biology professor at Texas A&M University in Galveston. Armitage says Texans shouldn't worry about the environmental impacts of the massive seaweed blob, which is called "sargassum." It could actually help improve beaches since the living ecosystems "can help trap sand and stabilize beaches as it decomposes."
Galveston County officials mirrored this viewpoint. "Sargassum can be a nuisance, but it's also critical to our ecosystem, serving as a home for various forms of marine life and helping to fortify our dunes," they wrote on Twitter.
Despite this, the blob of seaweed poses some aesthetic problems. For starters, it's not pretty. Secondly, it doesn't smell good. At all. Especially in the Texas heat. At least most of the blob is expected to wind up on the Florida coast rather than Texas, researchers said.
Here's a look at photos and videos of the massive seaweed blob: