Category: Podcast

“At MGI we have been using satellite data to track the sargassum. We’ve created maps of monthly sargassum beaching from 2018-2020. From month to month, the location of the sargassum beaching changes significantly. There are so many different factors affecting sargassum beaching, for example shoreline, wind, wave, and tide dynamics. We want to find out…

“When Sargassum first arrived in the Caribbean, we were very concerned about its impact, especially on tourism and fisheries. But now we have started to see entrepreneurs developing innovative products from Sargassum, such as fertilisers, pharmaceuticals, and biogas. Here we see an ecological risk that is being turned into an opportunity. Over the next couple…

“There are so many different species of sargassum; if we are able to identify the morphotypes at sea, that might enable us to track where the different species are coming from. The most exciting part of SARTRAC is working with partners in Jamaica and West Africa. We are hoping to improve the accuracy of our…

“Each type of Sargassum could produce completely different chemical compounds which is shown by colleagues (Davis et al. 2020) working here in Jamaica and at University of York. What is also interesting is that when combined (species and types together) the biomass can be used for different purposes (including agricultural applications), which augers well for…

“There has been very little research on the local geomorphological factors affecting the extent of the sargassum beaching events. This is the current focus of my research. Over the next year, I look forward to getting a deeper understanding of the drivers of the beaching events, but also how the seaweed affects the livelihoods of…

“We don’t yet know which remote sensing algorithms and datasets work best to detect Sargassum for the Caribbean and West Africa. I’m really looking forward to seeing which algorithms and datasets work best and why. Since I’ve worked on sargassum, it’s been interesting to see how different countries have used sargassum. Countries in the Caribbean…

“It is surprising how little is known about the compounds that are available within Sargassum biomass. We are still working to see how to valorise this biomass to create benefits for the Caribbean and West Africa. Over the next two years, we need to better understand whether these Sargassum blooms are going to continue –…

“Sargassum is really affecting livelihoods of poorer communities along the coast of Ghana. When there is an abundance of Sargasum, fishers have been prevented from fishing, or have found that they only bring back seaweed, not fish. This creates a really hard time for fishers who have no other livelihood options. In the next couple…

“yet there is a huge knowledge gap around the magnitude, and impacts of sargassum on coastal West Africa. Over the next two years we will be looking at how sargassum is affecting the livelihoods of the poorest coastal communities and how sargassum affects the artisanal fishing industry. I am also keen to develop partnerships to…

“There is a lot of work using satellite imagery to monitor Sargassum. We are exploring opportunities from using a variety of different algorithms to better track Sargassum. I am really excited about developing a Sargassum early warning system for Jamaica, which we will co-develop with affected communities. We will use information from satellites and combine…