Some of the most asked questions.
We know there are many questions relating to Sargassum and it's impacts on the beach/coastal environments. Here are some of the questions we get asked the most.
What is Sargassum?
Sargassum is a collection of brown macroalgae. Numerous species are distributed throughout the temperate and tropical oceans of the world, where they generally inhabit shallow water and coral reefs, and the genus is widely known for its planktonic species.
What is sand sifting?
The equipment penetrates the surface and the sand is screened removing any objects from the sand (e.g. cigarettes) returning the clean and to the surface, avoiding erosion.
What is in the sand?
Just imagine, you are sitting on a sunny beach, contentedly letting the warm sand trickle through your fingers. Millions of sand grains. What you probably can't imagine: at the same time, billions upon billions of bacteria are also trickling through your fingers. Between 10,000 and 100,000 microorganisms live on each single grain of sand.
Do we need to maintain the beach to keep the sand sanitized and safe?
The short answer is, YES! Besides visible hazards such as glasses, nails, etc., there are studies indicating that E. coli may survive and potentially replicate in the sand, possibly increasing fecal counts found on beaches, as well as other not-visible hazards such as heavy metals, hookworms, etc.