Massive seaweed presence on Atlantic Coast, but how long will it last?
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - People visiting Central Florida beaches were caught by surprise at massive amounts of seaweed that pushed in late last week.
"Seaweed kept wrapping around my leg, wrapping around my leg I didn’t know what it was," said one visitor from Tennessee.
As people make their summer plans, many are wondering when it’ll go away.
Dr. Wendy Anderson with Stetson University said it all depends on the storm season.
"You know the hurricanes tend to break up that sargassum out there in the beds and then push that material in, so how bad it is is really dependent on the storm season," she said.
She said although weather conditions push it in every summer, it made an early arrival this year.
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"The stuff that got pushed up this weekend is already starting to get carried back out, out to sea, some of it gets buried, under just accumulated sand," she said.
Dr. Anderson said locals have reported it's starting to wash away in some areas of Volusia County beaches, but people can expect it to fluctuate over the summer.
"It’s a temporary phenomenon. It’s gonna come and go all summer because it always does," she said.
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