A giant blob of seaweed is slowly floating toward Florida’s beaches. The collection of seaweed weighs more than 10 million tons, and stretches more than 5,000 miles—twice the width of the continental United States!

The seaweed at issue is called sargassum, and it’s a leafy BUOYANT algae that collects and floats around the ocean. It’s nothing new for the seaweed to form large blooms in the Atlantic Ocean. What is new is how big these blooms are getting.

Scientists noticed more than 10 years ago that the seaweed masses were becoming large enough to be captured on satellite images. They originally thought it was just a particularly massive bloom, but have come to learn that the seaweed bloom has only gotten bigger and bigger each year.

Once the giant blob approaches land, in this case Florida and other coastlines throughout the Gulf of Mexico, it can really start to cause problems. A large collection of seaweed like this can smother coral reefs and affect fishing. Once they reach land, the piles of sargassum can collect in piles several feet high and begin to rot after 48 hours.    

The rotting piles of seaweed will smell like manure or rotten eggs—not exactly a pleasant odor! It also releases chemical irritants that can be harmful to people with respiratory issues, such as asthma.

It may sound a little intimidating, and the giant blob currently headed for shorelines in the Gulf of Mexico presents potential problems, but there are several companies trying to find ways to use the seaweed. It could make things ranging from biofuel to vegan leather. That’s because seaweed is very versatile!

In the ocean, it serves as a source of food and habitat for various wildlife, including fish, mammals, marine birds, crabs and sea turtles. There are a variety of types of seaweed, and it can be used for everything from fertilizer to cosmetics. Seaweed is also used in food, and not just sushi. Certain seaweeds provide extracts used to help thicken things like pudding and chewing gum!