In this episode we talk to Jasmine Harrison and Mark Sealey. Both of them have completed the 2020 Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge and rowed 3000 miles from the Canary Island of La Gomera to Antigua. More people have climbed Everest in one year than have rowed the Atlantic Ocean, and it is rightly considered to be one of the toughest challenges on the planet. Jasmine Harrison represented the team Rudderly Mad and did the crossing solo. Mark Sealey rowed the Atlantic as part of the 4 person Force Genesis team. Both of them experienced Sargassum during their crossing and tell us the story of their crossing.

Listen to the episode to hear about:

- Sargassum being a welcome sight to see while out a sea as long as it doesn’t get stuck in the rudders (5:25)

- What it is like to hear about Sargassum the first time while being in the middle of the Atlantic (7:00)

- The three charities they are raising money for while doing the crossing (9:45)

- How Jasmine heard about the Atlantic crossing and decided to take part (12:00)

- Seasickness, bad weather, capsizing, gear breaking, mental challenges and close encounters with ships : toughest moments out at sea (14:05, 17:30, 22:15)

- Sunsets, night skies, flat water and wildlife: best moments out at sea (15:30, 17:45, 23:50)

- Support vessels checking in with them (18:10)

- How they switched between rowing and sleeping (18:45)

- How does wildlife change across the Atlantic (26:10)

- Most of the plastic seen was in the Sargassum (30:05)

- Dorado, Mahi Mahi and Triggerfish were some of the larger fish they saw (33:00)

- Scary moment: Getting your boat harpoon speared by blue marlin (35:40)

- Getting stuck in thick Sargassum mats (40:00)

- “Are you really going to row the Atlantic?” “Why wouldn’t you?” (44:40)

- The feeling of arriving in Antigua (47:00)

Learn more about the two rowing teams:

Jasmine Harrison

֍ Website

֍ Facebook

֍ Instagram

֍ Charity/donation link

Mark Sealey

֍ Website

֍ Facebook

֍ Instagram

֍ Twitter

֍ Charity/donation link 

We love to hear from you, feel free to drop us an email to SargassumPodcast@gmx.net, and connect with us on social media: facebook, twitter, Instagram, linkedin.

Can’t get enough? Become one of our patrons for as little as $1 a month and take part in an exclusive monthly happy hour with our podcast guests and other Sargassum crazy patrons. We are grateful for each supporter and look forward to connecting with you.

Like our music? The song is called Them Ah Pree by Drizzle Roadranna. Follow him on spotify and youtubeand Spotify

Nous continuons avec l’artiste Louisa Marajo, pour qui les sargasses constituent depuis 2018 une source d’inspiration. Louisa Marajo est d’origine martiniquaise, vit et enseigne à Paris, mais crée souvent in situ sur le littoral de son île natale. Elle a exposé récemment ses œuvres à Paris, ainsi qu’à Miami. Elle co-organise depuis 2019 l’exposition Homo Sargassum avec Vanessa Selk (podcast sur youtube ).

Ecoutez cet épisode :

Présentation des participants (00:40)

Que représente la sargasse pour Louisa Marajo ? « Une plante envahissante et rebelle » (02:30)

Projets d’expositions (04:11) : l’idée du chaos au Perez art museum, et l’idée de « construire un monde avec les sargasses »

Performance dans l’exposition parisienne : serons-nous tous des sargasses prochainement ? (05:41)

Une question néo-coloniale ? La relation à la sargasse comme rapport du local au global et l’invisibilité de ce problème inhérent à la Grande Caraïbe ? (06:52)

Homo sargassum, centre et défragmentation (08:08)

Scientifiques et artistes, ensemble pour la redécouverte des « fléaux et des ruines de ce monde » (09:12)

L’organisation des différentes formes d’exposition (10:24)

Le travail entre artistes et scientifiques, en sciences sociales comme en sciences expérimentales sera une construction/déconstruction d’idées, de création, de pratiques (10:54)

Quel message et quelle vision du monde l’expression peut apporter à ce problème écologique ? L’artiste apporte un déplacement du problème (11:51)

Le rôle des entrepreneurs et des acteurs locaux dans Homo Sargassum : mouvement et intersectionnalité (14:20)

Le papier de Sargasse project et les amendements agricoles de la société Holdex (16:31)

Changement de trajectoire du projet à cause du Covid-19 (17:08)

Carnet du confinement (20:29)

Se nourrir des peurs générées pendant le Covid et difficulté à respirer lors des décompositions de sargasses (22:24)

Renaissance (23:27)

Remerciements (24:54)

Debrief (25:30)

Vous pouvez écouter en version complète notre générique, par Drizzle RoadRanna(35:02)

Si vous voulez en lire plus sur les sujets développés par Louisa Marajo :

- Le site de Louisa Marajo 

- Homo sargassum sur le site de Toutmonde Art Foundation 

- L’exposition Poussières océaniques à la Galerie Dix9 

- La valorisation des algues en papier 

Les amendements agricoles d’Holdex environnement présentés sur le site Martinique 2030 

Our guests today are Melissa de Freitas, Maxine Trotman and Tessa Davy.  Melissa is a Geophysicist working as Energy Officer at the Energy Unit  of the Government of St. Vincent. Maxine currently lives in Atlanta  Georgia and organizes relief effort from there and Tessa is a retired  healthcare professional and is currently on St. Vincent for her tourism  related work. Melissa and Tessa share how they experienced the volcanic  eruptions on St. Vincent and Maxine shares with us how she organizes  relief from afar.    

Ways to donate:  

Non profit Constructive Solution Inc., which is coordinating immediate  distribution to affected citizens in St. Vincent:  https://tinyurl.com/7pkypx8c

  Bank transfer to Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Account  General-Disaster Relief fund: Banking Information for Disaster Relief  (www.gov.vc)

Island Innovation page on the Volcanic Eruption with  up to date information and further options to donate:  https://islandinnovation.co/saint-vincent-volcanic-eruption/

*The Sargassum Podcast and MCB are not affiliated with any of organizations raising funds for disaster relief.


If  you have been affected by the eruptions of La Soufriere in St. Vincent  and would like to talk to us about it on the podcast then please get in  touch per email: sargassumpodcast@gmx.net

In this episode we talk to Brigitte Gavio who is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. She leads the Research Group in Molecular Systematics and Biogeography of Marine Macroalgae and her research focuses on taxonomy and biogeography of marine algae.

Listen to the episode to hear about:

- The importance of Sargassum for sea turtles (7:00)

- Currently only the San Andres Archipelago receives Sargassum in larger quantities in Colombia, however the Caribbean coast should still prepare in case they ever get beaching events (9:00)

- Her research trip to the very remote Cayo Serranilla where they found a large amount of turtles nesting (12:30)

- Sargassum arriving on Cayo Serranilla during their research trip (17:20)

- Impact of Sargassum and rats on nesting turtles and emerging hatchlings (18.30)

- Size of Cayo Serranilla and its rocky and sandy shore line (22:00)

- Rat removal on islands (23:00)

- Use of turtles of offshore Sargassum mats(28:00)

Learn more about Brigitte’s work:

֍ Brigitte’s professional website

֍ Molecular Systematics and Biogeography of Marine Macroalgae research group

֍Gavio and Santo- Martinez, 2018. Floating Sargassum in Serranilla Bank, Caribbean Colombia may jeopardize the race to the ocean of baby sea turtles

Our guest today is Dr Ashley Johns, the founder of Constructive Solutions which is helping with disaster relief efforts in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. He has 20 years experience in disaster response and is an Island Innovation Ambassador. His island Bequia is the closest of the Grenadine islands to St. Vincent and was and is heavily affected by the ash cloud from the recent eruptions of La Soufriere in St. Vincent. He explains to us how he experienced the eruptions and ash cloud and how this is the first natural disaster that scared him. He also reports on what has been happening on St. Vincent and Bequia. Lastly he goes into detail on what type of help the people of St. Vincent will need to recover from these eruptions. We accompanied the interview with videos and photos from the region to paint a clearer picture.

Ways to donate:

Dr. Ashleys Non profit Constructive Solution Inc., which is coordinating immediate distribution to affected citizens in St. Vincent

Bank transfer to Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Account General-Disaster Relief fund:

Banking Information for Disaster Relief

Island Innovation page on the Volcanic Eruption with up to date information and further options to donate:

More about our guest Dr. Ashley John

To see videos and pictures head to our youtube channel and watch the interview there: https://youtu.be/bOfXRGUunBo         

Our guest today is Stacey Alvarez, a digital sales manager, legal  assistant, educational consultant and Island Innovation Ambassador from  Barbados. Her island was and is heavily affected by the ash cloud from  the recent eruptions of La Soufriere in St. Vincent. She tells us about  the weekend when the island was wrapped in darkness and about the  effects the ash has on people’s health and their daily lives. We  accompanied the interview with videos and photos from the region to  paint a clearer picture.

The impact of the volcanic eruption is of course felt much harder on  St. Vincent and we touch on what is happening there as well. We will  cover this in more detail in our next bonus episode. If you would like  to support the people of St. Vincent then Stacey suggests to support  grassroots NGOs as well as Government organizations. [recorded  13.04.2021]

Watch Now! Listen Now!

Ways to donate:

Constructive Solution Inc. non-profit who is coordinating immediate distribution to affected citizens in St. Vincent: https://tinyurl.com/7pkypx8c

Bank transfer to Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Account General-Disaster Relief fund: Banking Information for Disaster Relief (www.gov.vc)

Island Innovation page on the Volcanic Eruption with up to date information and further options to donate: https://islandinnovation.co/saint-vincent-volcanic-eruption/

Stacey’s linked in profile where she will post ways to donate as they emerge: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacey-alvarez-de-la-campa-ba-hons-llb-16a275147/

*The Sargassum Podcast and MCB are not affiliated with any of organizations raising funds for disaster relief.

E14: Conserving an incredible ecosystem with Teresa Mackey and Dr David Freestone of the Sargasso Sea Commission

The Sargasso Sea Commission was established in 2014 with the goal of conserving the Sargasso Sea. Ms. Teresa Mackey is the Programme Manager of the Sargasso Sea Commission and has been working with it since 2017. Dr. David Freestone is the Executive Secretary of the Sargasso Sea Commission.He is Visiting Scholar and Professorial Lecturer at The George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C. He has written widely on the Law of the Sea and international environmental law, and is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law. The Sargasso Sea – on which their project is based  is an incredible diverse ecosystem, also called the golden floating rainforest of the Atlantic.

- Species that use Sargassum as a habitat in the open ocean ( 8:10)

- Location of the Sargasso Sea ( 9:30)

- UN was looking into protecting or conserving areas in the high seas beyond national jurisdictions and the Sargasso Sea Project was designed to show how important it was to do this  (11:30)

- The role of the Sargasso Sea Commission (13:10)

- The Northwest Atlantic Fishery Organization  has closed off all the seamounts in the Sargasso Sea to bottom trawling and to use of gear that might touch the bottom (18:00)

- The Commission received the first high seas ecosystem grant from the Global Environment Facility to do a diagnostic assessment and put forward a strategic action programme for the conservation of the Sargasso Sea(18:30)

- The negative connotations with Sargassum linked to the inundations in the Caribbean made it difficult to convince people to protect the Sargasso Sea (19:45)

- The Sargasso Sea Commission isn’t directly involved in work concerning the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt but supports efforts to minimize negative effects on coastal ecosystems and communities (21:45, 27:35)

- The Commission is worried that more Sargassum natans VIII might  arrive in the Sargasso Sea from the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt and is monitoring for this (25:45)

- Will there likely be laws around which country owns Sargassum as a resource? (29:40)

- International collaboration in early warning systems (31:40)

- Nutrient added Sargassum growth (e.g. for carbon sequestration) should not be tried in the Sargasso Sea (34:30)

- Benefits of Sargassum for beach nourishment in Bermuda (36:32)

- How can we make a legal framework similar to the UNFCCC for Sargassum ?(38:30, 42:25)

Learn more about the Sargasso Sea Commission:

֍ Website

֍Useful information on the Atlantic Sargassum Belt

֍ Facebook

֍ Twitter

֍ Instagram

֍ LinkedIn

֍ Nonsuch expeditions Sargasso Sea

We love to hear from you, feel free to drop us an email to SargassumPodcast@gmx.net, and connect with us on social media: facebook, twitter, Instagram, linkedin.

Become one of our patrons

En este episodio hablamos con Deemian Vera  y Dagoberto Ruiz de la empresa mexicana de ingeniería marítima Dakatso. Demian nos habla de las barreras anti-sargazo, los botes de recolección del sargazo y su último producto: el “sargcreto”. Para ellos sargazo es un gran problema cuando llega a las playas de México, pero a la vez es una gran oportunidad como empresa para poder aportar su granito de arena en la búsqueda de soluciones a estas inundaciones. Por eso crearon el Proyecto GIS para la Gestión Integral del Sargazo. Si quieres saber más sobre cómo prevenir las arribazones de sargazo y aprovechar el sargazo recolectado, escucha nuestro último episodio.

Escucha el episodio para aprender sobre:

(For the editing: We had to restart the interview, so it starts in min 3:38 and in min 4:34 we need to cut a few seconds)

- Presentaciones (0:35 )

- Introducción de la empresa Mexicana Dakatso (2:13)

- Que es Sargazo para Deemian de Dakatso (2:51)

- Como la empresa empezó a trabajar con el sargazo (3:40)

- Importancia de recoger el sargazo en cuanto antes al llegar en las playas (5:15)

- Presentación del plan de Gestión Integral del Sargazo, proyecto GIS : Contención, recolección, disposición, industrialización (5:38)

- El proceso final del proyecto GIS, el concreto (hormigón) “Sargcreto” (10:00)

- Los barcos de recolección y el desarrollo del proceso de recolección en mar (11:45)

- Donde llevan el sargazo una vez en tierra y con quien trabajan (15:18)

- Tiempo de vida de las barreras y mantenimiento (16:30)

- Las diferentes aplicaciones del sargazo triturado (21:17)

- La red neuronal para monitorizar el sargazo: drones y satélites (22:58)

- La barrera más larga de Dakatso (25:42)

- Estudios previos para diseñar la barrera (26:51)

- Intervención de Dagoberto y agradecimientos (28:32)

- Charla sobre lo aprendido durante la entrevista entre Mar y Clio (31:07)

Si quieres saber más sobre los proyectos de Dakatso, aquí tienes los links a su empresa:

https://www.dakatso.com.mx

https://flow.page/grupodakatso Si quieres ponerte en contacto con nosotros mándanos un e-mail a sargassumPodcast@gmx.net o conecta con nosotros a través de las redes sociales facebook, twitter, Instagram, linkedin.  Quieres más? Conviértete en uno de nuestros patrocinadores desde 1 USD al mes! https://www.patreon.com/theSargassumP...De esta forma podrás participar en nuestra “happy hour” mensual con los entrevistados en nuestro podcast y otros fans de sargazo. Agradecemos enormemente cualquier apoyo y estamos deseando conectar con todos ustedes!  Te gusta nuestra música? La canción se llama: “Them Ah Pree” de Drizzle Roadranna. Síguele en Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/03bre2kTFwQjUIhn7E956s y youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCyK...

In this episode we talk to Paola Díaz a biologist from Honduras currently studying a masters in Integrated Management of Tropical Coastal Areas at the University of Costa Rica. Her upcoming project with Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología at the University of Costa Rica involve the documentation of the arrivals of Sargassum to Central America. According to her most people think of Sargassum as a problem but in the recent years more and more people also see it as an opportunity and wake-up call as a result of environmental impacts.

- Her studies in Coastal Management(5:25)

- Sargassum situation in Costa Rica (9:05; 11:00)

- Using interviews and Epicollect 5 to document Sargassum landings in Costa Rica(9:45)

- How she is planning on collecting data from remote beaches (12:34)

- Working together with NGOs that monitor beaches and hotels that have beaches (13:50)

- Plans to involve local community: first make local connections, then give locals information and then interview them to learn how they are experiencing Sargassum (15:40)

- Interview method that is standardized and used in different places in the Caribbean (17:30)

- First they plan informative webinars for NGOs and government and then practical webinars for people who will collect data (18:45)

Learn more about Paola’s work:

֍ Research gate profile with publications

֍ Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología Instagram

֍ Paola’s Instagram

֍ Paola’s twitter

֍ Become a Sargassum citizen scientists:

1. Download Epicollect5 for iphones

Download Epicollect5 for Android

2. Within the Epicollect5 download the projects Sargassum Watch (English) or Monitoreo de Sargassum (Spanish) if you want to collect full data sets or EZ Sargassum, Sargazo facil (Spanish) or Sargasse facile(French) to just snap pictures

3. Take pictures of the beach every time you visit even if there is none

We love to hear from you, feel free to drop us an email to SargassumPodcast@gmx.net, and connect with us on social media: facebook, twitter, Instagram, linkedin.

Can’t get enough? Become one of our patrons for as little as $1 a month and take part in an exclusive monthly happy hour with our podcast guests and other Sargassum crazy patrons. We are grateful for each supporter and look forward to connecting with you.

Like our music? The song is called Them Ah Pree by Drizzle Roadranna. Follow him on spotify and youtubeand Spotify

In this episode we talk to Chris Gug who is better known as just Gug. He is regarded as one of America's foremost underwater photographers. Gug has been making waves in the art scene for well over a decade and has won countless awards, many of which are internationally acclaimed. He didn’t receive a formal photography education, but acquired his skills while living full time on dive boats, shooting pictures every day. Now he is based in Lauderdale by the Sea, Florida where he has an art gallery called the Gug Underwater Gallery. For Gug, Sargassum is a artistic opportunity, a floating habitat that brings many amazing creatures and doubles as a great backdrop.

- The camera he uses (3:00)

- How he became a full time professional underwater photographer at 15 years old (4:00)

- The importance of observations (6:40)

- The joy of exploring a Sargassum patch underwater (8:00)

- Examples of pictures and videos he took (12:15)

- Reaction of beach goers to sunken Sargassum (16:00)

- Sargassum quantity increased from 2017 in Florida but only in 2019 and 2020 was there an increase in animals associated with Sargassum (17:30)

- Shifting baselines and the loss of ecosystem health(21:15)

- Floridian view on Sargassum and them often confusing it to the red tide (24:00)

- Introducing kids to Sargassum and nature (27:15)

- Amount of plastic within the Sargassum has increased in the last two years (29:30)

- Take time to watch wildlife and approach it slowly to get good pictures (32:45)

Learn more about Gug’s work and his amazing art work:
֍ Website

֍ Visit the Gallery: 216 Commercial Blvd., Lauderdale by the Sea, FL 33308

֍ Facebook

֍ Twitter

֍ Instagram

֍ Pinterest

֍ Youtube

We love to hear from you, feel free to drop us an email to SargassumPodcast@gmx.net, and connect with us on social media: facebook, twitter, Instagram, linkedin.

Can’t get enough? Become one of our patrons for as little as $1 a month and take part in an exclusive monthly happy hour with our podcast guests and other Sargassum crazy patrons. We are grateful for each supporter and look forward to connecting with you.

Like our music? The song is called Them Ah Pree by Drizzle Roadranna. Follow him on spotify and youtubeand Spotify

In this episode we talk to Jason Cole and Jorge Vega Matos, who are part of the 20-person strong team at C-Combinator, a public benefit corporation creating valuable circular economies based on Sargassum that can address regenerative agriculture, sustainable manufacturing, and scalable carbon sequestration. Jason Cole is the Executive VP for Innovation and Jorge Vega Matos is VP for Marketing & Communications. To them, Sargassum is a sign of disrupted ocean ecosystems. As Sargassum is thriving with this new climate, they plan to work with the ocean to avert climate collapse.

Listen to the episode to hear about:

- Sargassum beaching events in Tanzania (10:00)

- Mission of C-Combinator to help restore the oceans and climate through the growth of naturally occurring seaweeds (11:15)

- C-Combinator is opening the first high tech biorefinery for macroalgae in the Caribbean (Puerto Rico and Mexico) (11:45)

- Their plans to innovate with sargassum and scale a large range of products in a sustainable way (12:25)

- As a public benefit cooperation they are about economy justice for island and coastal economies (13:30)

- Biggest hurdle to close shore seaweed farming is regulatory, to get the permission to put lines in the water (16:00)

- Deepsea seaweed farming has large potential in the future but need to still be scaled up(19:00)

- Jason journey from IT to C- Combinator (23:00)

- Jorge background commercial anthropologist and foresight researcher (29:00)

- Seaweeds are one of the groups of obscure organisms with amazing properties that we are rediscovering (29:30)

- Helping local communities through job creation and mitigation of negative effects of Sargassum (32:45)

- Cultural value of beaches and the ocean (35:45)

- Multitude of partners at Universities, Government and elsewhere (36:20)

- Producing biostimulant from Sargassum (38:10, 41:45)

- Other products they developed such as super absorbants for agriculture, replacements for leather, foam (40:45,( 47:25)

- The vision of C- Combinator as the anti-oil company(43:30)

- Do we need to farm Sargassum to make all these products ?(52:15)

- Using Sargassum for climate mitigation (56:30, 1:02:32)

- How to remove arsenic and other contaminants from harvested Sargassum in the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico (59:00)

Learn more about C-Combinator:
֍ C- combinator website

֍ LinkedIn

֍ Twitter

֍ Climate foundation website

֍ Movie: 2040 Join the Regeneration

We love to hear from you, feel free to drop us an email to SargassumPodcast@gmx.net, and connect with us on social media: facebook, twitter, Instagram, linkedin.

Can’t get enough? Become one of our patrons for as little as $1 a month and take part in an exclusive monthly happy hour with our podcast guests and other Sargassum crazy patrons. We are grateful for each supporter and look forward to connecting with you.

Like our music? The song is called Them Ah Pree by Drizzle Roadranna. Follow him on spotify and youtubeand Spotify

In this episode we talk to Dr. Debbie Bartlett.  She is Professor of Environmental Conservation at University of Greenwich. Her background is in consultancy, and she had experience of working for local authorities and government agencies before moving to full time employment in academia. Together with John Milledge who we interviewed in Episode 5 she works on a Darwin Plus Project to find Sustainable Solutions for Sargassum Inundations in the Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI). As part of this, she conducted one of the first studies to determine the social and economic impacts Sargassum has on island communities.

Listen to the episode to hear about:

- Sargassum muticans, an invasive species in the UK (2:30)

- Pelagic Sargassum as a community (3:40)

- Nature based solutions (4:00)

- Importance of local people’s input (6:00)

- How to involve local communities in issues that happen in the connected ocean (6:30)

- Sargassum on hotel beaches creates employment opportunities (8:46)

- Gamefishers like Sargassum mats but pull in more fish with shark bites (9:30)

- Local fishermen are likely not impacted by Sargassum in the TCI (12:00)

- Effect of Sargassum on Seagrass beds in the TCI (14:00)

- Different things we do not understand yet about Sargassum (17:30)

- Impact of Sargassum on Mangroves (18:00)

- Need for basic science on Sargassum (18:30)

- For a Sargassum industry you need to know how much is arriving to your island (20:00)

- Determine where does the Sargassum do the most damage and where does it the most good (21:00)

- Debbie’s surprise when she witnessed a “cruise boat day” on Grand Turk(24:00)

- Dive tourism concerned about bad publicity that comes with Sargassum(28:00)

- Sargassum affects jet ski operators massively(28:30)

- Hotel are often worries about their image when islands receive Sargassum (29:45)

- Is there a coordinate effort between all stakeholders involved in the TCI? (31:30)

- Can you extrapolate the results from TCI to other areas? (36:30)

- Solutions to the Sargassum problem threat the symptoms but not the cause (39:30)

Resources mentioned during the podcast:

֍ Bartlett D (2020) Chapter 5 Landscape Character Assessment: A method to include community perspectives and ecosystem services in landuse planning in Nature based Solutions: Science, Innovations and Strategies in South Asia.  Ed Dhyani S, Gupta A K and Karki M. Volume 1 in the Springer Nature series Disaster Resilience and Green Growth

֍ Onus or Bonus? Researchers assess the impact of sargassum seaweed in the TCI.

֍ Sargassum uses guide (published by CERMES)

֍ Milledge JJ Maneein S, Arribas López Bartlett D (2020) Sargassum Inundations in Turks and Caicos: Methane Potential and Proximate, Ultimate, Lipid, Amino Acid, Metal and Metalloid Analyses Energies 2020, 13(6), 1523;

֍Bartlett D (2020) Golden Tides – A Collaborative Search for a Sustainable Solution to the Seaweed Inundations on Caribbean Beaches In Practice - Bulletin of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, 107: p30-33

We love to hear from you, feel free to drop us an email to SargassumPodcast@gmx.net, and connect with us on social media

In this episode we talk to Javier Diaz. He is a Marine Biology Master student at University of Groningen, researching the importance of healthy fish nursery habitats in Curaçao, where he is from. He is also a board member and the research coordinator at Stichting Uniek Curaçao, a NGO group that works towards heightening the life quality of the local residents and among other things is removing Sargassum in parts of Curaçao. Sargassum to him is a nursery in the open water but becomes a problem when it reaches the coasts. Listen to the episode to hear about:

- Sargassum has always occurred on Curaçao but the blooms are more severe now  (2:00)

- Impacts of Sargassum on Curaçao (3:00)

- Stichting Uniek Curaçao and what it does for the local people, nature and youth (3:45)

- Traditional ecological knowledge of fishermen in Curaçao and how it relates to his science education (6:00)

- Languages spoken on Curaçao (9:00)

- Languages that Uniek Curaçao uses for their outreach (10:16)

- How is Sargassum dealt with on Curaçao and the planned development of a removal protocol (13:15)

- Mortality of wildlife during Sargassum events (19:30)

- Rescuing Seaturtles from compacted Sargassum (22:00)

- Sargassum arrives in Curaçao March/April and sits bays until July (24:30)

- Health impacts of Sargassum on Curaçao (24:45)

- Storage of removed Sargassum on Curaçao and plans for using it as products (25:30)

Learn more about Uniek Curaçao and watch the videos Javier talked about in the episode:

֍ Stichting Uniek Curaçao facebook page

֍ Kiko sargassum ta?- Video explaining Sargassum in Papiamentu

֍ Video of turtle rescue in Boka Ascencion

֍ Video of plastic and debrief pool in Boka Ascencion

֍ Video of volunteers cleaning up Boka Patrick

֍ https://www.facebook.com/465248466901826/videos/1881404935286165

We love to hear from you, feel free to drop us an email to SargassumPodcast@gmx.net, and connect with us on social media: facebook, twitter, Instagram, linkedin.

Can’t get enough? Become one of our patrons for as little as $1 a month and take part in an exclusive monthly happy hour with our podcast guests and other Sargassum crazy patrons. We are grateful for each supporter and look forward to connecting with you.

Like our music? The song is called Them Ah Pree by Drizzle Roadranna. Follow him on spotify and youtube and Spotify