Sargassum: The What, Where, and Why of this Seaweed

“The open sea is like a desert, and sargassum is an oasis in that desert” — Blair Witherington, Research Scientist

Have you seen this on the beach lately?

Sargassum has been washing ashore on Caribbean beaches, in massive amounts, since last summer – although reports of unprecedented levels of this phenomenon have been documented since 2011 on the shoreline of the Riviera Maya.

What is it?

     It’s called Sargassum, brown algae (seaweed), a term coined by Portuguese sailors—which has even been attributed to Christopher Columbus (1492 expedition: first time someone reported crossing the Sargasso Sea). Today, many, many, species of Sargassum have been identified; however, Sargassum natans and Sargassum fluitans are the most relevant to us.

Small gas-filled spheres resembling berries, which keep the seaweed afloat, evoked memories of a type of grape known as salgazo (later sargaço). 

At first glance, beach-lovers might view it as nothing more than a foul-smelling annoyance (and sure, you may want to keep your distance once it starts to decompose); however, do remember that the once floating mats were home to (and source of food for) a huge variety of sea life. In fact, several creatures, like the Sargassum fish (a type of frogfish), are born, reproduce, and die solely within this environment!

Sargassum Fish. Credit: SEFSC Pascagoula Laboratory; Collection of Brandi Noble, NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC.

Sargassum is a prime nursery habitat for a diversity of large fish, such as mahi mahi (a.k.a. dorado, dolphin), sailfish, jacks, amberjacks, etc.

Reportedly, a dolphin whistle was translated for the first time by advanced pattern-recognition software – and it said, “Sargassum”.

Where did it come from?

     Local experts think this particular bout of Sargassum originated off the coast of South America. When ocean conditions are ripe, pelagic (i.e., living in the open ocean) sargassum can form “islands” a few acres across (3-5 ft. deep). Sargassum can survive a wide range of temperature and salinity; therefore, you’ll find it floating in every ocean except the Antarctic… and (pardon a pun) currently on our shores, plenty of it!

On the other hand, within the Sargasso Sea (a sea full of sargassum, as the name suggests, about 10 million tons of it!) – a vast region in the Atlantic that almost rivals Australia in size – a few scientists have actually been reporting less of it.

Did you know? Sargassum is edible, it’s harvested to feed livestock too, and you can fry, boil, steam or dry it. It’s played a part in Chinese medicine as far back as the 8th century, treating goiters (high iodine content) — and made into tea to control phlegm.

Why so much?

     No clear answer! Sargassum reproduction is asexual, which means that every bit of the same species could probably be traced back to its original ancestor; therefore, some consider it the largest organism in the world! Due to totipotency (a cell’s ability to give rise to unlike cells and develop a new organism), when a part breaks away, it’s not the end of it; the fragment drifts and could seemingly reproduce forever. Nonetheless, Sargassum eventually becomes too heavy, less buoyant, and sinks into the deep sea… or goes coastal!

The best educated guesses so far:

      • Global warming: it’s a tropical plant; therefore, warmer oceans = more ocean to “bloom”. Nonetheless, temperature alone is not enough to make it thrive.

      • Pollution: nutrient-rich waters act as fertilizer for the seaweed (it was thought that they were reproducing locally as a result of more nutrients).

     • Disturbance in liquid boundaries: winds, storms, and spiraling currents help disperse Sargassum throughout the world’s oceans.

What is the Sargasso Sea?

“The Sargasso Sea exists in a sort of non-existence—it is both sea, and non-sea. It is a mysterious microcosm (…) so different from any other place on earth that it may well be considered a definite geographic region” — Rachel Carson, Author, Marine Biologist, and Conservationist

     The Sargasso Sea, which exists exclusively in the Atlantic Ocean (specifically, in the North Atlantic Gyre), spreads 1,107 km wide and 3,200 km long – approx. 2 million square miles (Mexico is merely 761,610 sq mi). The only sea without fixed land boundaries, its limits are formed by dynamic ocean currents. Several kinds of algae float across oceans worldwide; however, the species of sargassum found here are ‘holopelagi‘ – meaning they float and reproduce at high seas (not on the ocean floor).

“Diving under sargassum is like diving in another world (…) If you can’t get out on a reef, it’s just as good.” — Billy Causey, Southeast Regional Director for NOAA’s Office of Marine Sanctuaries

One distinguishing feature of the Sargasso Sea, apart from ‘The golden floating rainforest’ appearance, is its remarkably clear blue water – divers would be greeted by 200 ft. (61 m) visibility!

Do ‘ocean’ and ‘sea’ mean the same thing? A sea belongs to the ocean; seas are normally found where land and ocean meet.

Benefits	Drawbacks
•  Sargassum provides a food source, home, and shelter to an amazing variety of marine species (plant, shrimp, crab, bird, fish, turtle and whale).	•  At times, unsightly (especially when accompanied by man-made marine debris).
•  Turtles use sargassum mats as nurseries. Five species of sea turtles that pass through the Atlantic have been recorded there, and for at least three of these species, the loggerhead (Caretta caretta), green turtle (Chelonia mydas), and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata), the Sargasso Sea is vitally important.	•  Unpleasant smell, once it begins to decay.
•  Invites pretty much every species of big-game fish that fishermen dream about catching.	•  Collects floating garbage that may pose a health or environmental risk.
•  On shore, it’s a source of food for crabs, insects, and a myriad of tiny creatures, which in turn feed shorebirds and other coastal animals.	•  Too much Sargassum can make it complicated for nesting sea turtles to arrive at shore; and for hatchlings to reach the ocean. Also, it’s more difficult to monitor turtle tracks.
•  Important for collecting wind-blown sand (anchoring it to create dunes) and encouraging plant growth (due to the nutrients it contributes); long-term, restoring eroded beaches and, short-term, helping reduce wave and wind erosion on the beach!	•  It can adversely affect tourism.
•  Potential in the medical and pharmaceutical fields.	•  Invasive species (e.g., Lionfish) can hitch a ride.
•  Serves as biofuel and land fill.	•  Decomposing in water, it can promote blooms of harmful bacteria / microbes; resulting in serious skin irritation.
	•  When removed from the beach, heavy machinery tends to compact the sand (this can affect turtles nesting, e.g.) and remove both sand and nutrients from the shore, which can lead to beach erosion.

What can be done about it?

     Hoteliers and local authorities have been coordinating to remove sargassum from our beaches, either manually, in wheelbarrows, or using different types of heavy machinery. Removing it remains necessary; nonetheless, as this cannot be done without unintended consequences that lead to beach erosion (e.g., removing sargassum removes sand, heavy machinery compacts sand, etc.), making informed decisions about how to manage excess sargassum is equally important – particularly because there is so much we have yet to understand.

Sources and further reading:

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sargassosea.html
http://www.eattheweeds.com/sargassum-not-just-for-breakfast-any-more-2/
http://www.semarnat.gob.mx/
http://www.alertdiver.com/Sargassum
http://arlohemphill.com/2011/08/26/change-is-in-the-air-seaweed-seaweed-everywhere/
http://www.mbari.org/staff/conn/botany/browns/jacquie/facts.htm
http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/sargassum.html
https:// vimeo. com/89868953
http://www.sargassoalliance.org/storage/documents/Mar-Sargasos-Tortugas_Marinas-ing_1.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargasso_Sea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargassum
http://www.brosnancenter.com/sargassum-summer.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3931196/
http://www.marlinmag.com/techniques/sargassum-weed-life
http://www.infoecologia.com/ZonaONG/oceana/ranger20050501/7sargazos_a_proa122005051613_copia%281%29.htm
http://today.tamu.edu/2015/03/25/conference-will-highlight-pesky-seaweed-on-texas-coast/
http://departments.knox.edu/engdept/commonroom/Volume_Seven/number_two/lane/
http://www.defenders.org/sites/default/files/publications/wildlife_and_offshore_drilling_sargassum.pdf
http://www.seaturtleinc.org/what-everyones-not-saying-about-sargassum/
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129624.300-dolphin-whistle-instantly-translated-by-computer.html?cmpid=RSS|NSNS|2012-GLOBAL|online-news#.UzQRfId1EfW
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3435100694.html
http://www.robinsonlibrary.com/geography/oceanography/ecology/sargasso.htm
http://www.seaweed.ie/sargassum/sargasso.php
Columbus: The Four Voyages, 1492-1504; By Laurence Bergreen

This entry was posted in Flora and Fauna and tagged Akumal, Alga, Algae, beach, cancun,caribbean, Holiday, mar, marine, marine life, mexico, ocean, oceáno, playa, Playa del Carmen,riviera maya, RivieraMaya, Sargasso Sea, Sargassum, Sargazo, sea, sea life, sealife, Seaweed,shore, shoreline. Bookmark the permalink. ← Backward Roll Entry or Back Roll Entry Today´s Deals! →

ORIGINAL SOURCE

Black and White Sea Egg Poachers have different court outcomes in Barbados

Editor’s note: This story is unchecked and was submitted anonymously.

Take with some salt and decide for yourself!

submitted by Steve See the Egg

Black and White Sea Egg Poachers

Recently two Sea poachers were apprehended somewhere between Martin’s Bay and Glenburnie in St. John. One Eric Mayers, known to most of us as “Grease”, and Anthony Standard, known to most as “TC” though breaking the law, which banned the poaching of sea eggs due to a scarcity of the delicacy for the past 10 years or so.

The two faced the court where they both pled guilty, but Eric was hit with a fine of BDS$5000 forthwith or 13 months in jail. As he could not come up with the fine he’ll have to serve 13 months in prison. This was indeed the second time Eric was caught or escaped being caught.

Anthony on the other hand was caught for the first time and was given a suspended sentence of one years’ probation no jail time, fine.

It should be noted that Mr. Anthony Standard is a white man and like in the Judicial Systems in place in the USA, Canada and many other racist societies, blacks are treated differently in the courts of Barbados. This is a double standard.

It should be noted that two brothers Edgar and Stephen Barrow who were also caught poaching Sea Eggs for the first time like some other first time Poachers were fined BDS$1000.

Why wasn’t Anthony Standard fined?

Is it because “Blacks don’t matter”?

Steve

Sea Egg photo courtesy of BarbadosPocketGuide.com

ORIGINAL SOURCE

Child Support: What would a just system look like? (Barbados)

I did not attend the “Paying Child Support And Can’t See The Children” forum so my comments on it are based on reports in the press.

The Nation News reports that Attorney-at-Law and Senator, Verla Depeiza, has stated that the Family Law Act is “skewed against men”. The Men’s Education and Support Association (MESA) has been saying the same thing for a long time. Similar to Men’s Rights Activists who argue then men are punished during divorce and discriminated against as fathers.

Verla Depeiza is quoted as saying

This is the thing. There is no punishment for the lady for not giving over the child even though there is a court order stating that the child is to be handed over at a particular time, but there is a punishment called prison for a man who does not pay maintenance but I feel it should be equally applied because it is a court order.
“If a woman has a court order saying that every other weekend the father should have access to the child but refuses to comply, I believe that woman should be just as open to punishment, at the highest incarceration, as a man who does not pay the maintenance.

A few responses to Verla Depeiza’s gender equality with a vengeance are required here:

Most men who do not contribute or contribute minimally are NOT, in fact, in prison. It is a myth that droves of men are locked up for failing to pay child support or that even most men court ordered to pay end up in prison when they do not. Many only end up in Magistrate’s Court when whatever informal arrangement they had between them breaks down. In many, many cases there is NO court-mandated child support arrangement. Some mothers may do it all alone, others have informal arrangements with the fathers of their children.

Most local feminist activists I have heard speak on the matter DO NOT support imprisonment for non-payment of child support. They have called for a more humane system which eliminates the hassles and embarrassment women face negotiating the court system and collecting support on behalf of their children. A 2006 UNIFEM study found that the average maintenance order is $250.00 per month or nowhere near half the cost of supporting a child. It also revealed that 50% of applications under the Maintenance Act are for arrears and are not new applications. In other words, there is massive non-compliance and the system is not working, not for mothers and not for children.

Understanding child support as a part of gender justice is way more complex than claiming the system works in women’s favour. It does not.

Not only are women dissatisfied with the system, men are too. Lloyd Springer conducted research with non-residential fathers in Barbados. Some of his informants stated that women took fathers to court for child support as an act of vengeance for some perceived wrong. A 2006 UNIFEM report on child support in Barbados states:

many men attributed motives to the court action that are not related to children’s needs and therefore there is hostility and resentment about having not only to go to court but also to pay child support. Some men felt the system was biased against them, particularly in relation to access, and/or that court actions were unnecessarily invoked when they already made contributions on request by the child’s mother. There seemed to be little appreciation of any obligation to make these payments and even less understanding of how the mother might feel in having to continually make such requests.

The point is we need a system that eliminates non-compliance, humiliation and waiting in long lines for collection of support. We also need for fathers to understand that contributing to the overall well-being of their child is their responsibility. It is not a demand that should be made of them by mothers, it should not been seen as a “tax” nor reduced to exclusively monetary terms. In fact, research shows that not only do children need their fathers, fathers need their children. Fathering is associated with many positive outcomes for men.

One area where the courts discriminate against men is often not talked about.  That is the prejudice fathers face in court that is often related to their socio-economic background:

There is harsh censure of men deemed deviant  fathers, usually those who are young,  unemployed and with ‘rasta hairstyles’. Conversely, considerable effort is made  to support and accommodate men who are not deemed hopeless ‘low lives’ and are engaged in activities that are  viewed as worthy ones for men and  that will improve their ‘future’. (source UNIFEM report)

Very often child support is painted as a battleground between women and men.  This bypasses the role the courts play in reproducing the class system as well as reproducing gender ideologies, resulting in negative outcomes for both women and men.  All of these issues are erased in favour of an ongoing theme of how women, themselves, disadvantage men.

Back to the theme of the forum: that men are denied access to their children. Where there is no history of abuse or violence and where there is no threat of violence to the mother at the point of hand over of the child, men and women should share in the parenting. Reform of the child support system toward gender justice must include this.

That said, where there has been a history of violence, women’s lives are put at risk by being forced to interact with someone who has harmed them in the past and continues to be a threat that must be taken into account in any order for visitation or shared custody. I’m not aware of any Caribbean research in the area, but research elsewhere has demonstrated that women who have been victims of violence at the hands of the father of their child, still want their children to have a relationship with the father. However, they want an arrangement which would ensure the safety of themselves and their children. A child support payment is NOT payment for seeing a child. These are two separate arrangements that must not be conflated. Justice for all parties involved must reflect this understanding.

But what of the woman, “the implacably hostile mother–caregiver who for no reason chooses to deny the father his rightful contact with his child (she’s the one who also fabricates allegations of domestic violence or abuse for strategic purposes)”? Australian researchers have found that woman to be a “mythical creature”.* What would empirical research in Barbados reveal? How many women would have to go to prison (according to Verla Depeiza’s suggestion) for failing to allow fathers to see their children? Is this really a widespread problem? Or is the issue far more complex than vengeful mothers and dutiful child-support-paying fathers victimized by women and by the courts? When it comes to family law can we honestly say that the Magistrate’s court is a woman’s world? What would a just system look like, one that delivers fair outcomes for girls and boys, women and men?

* Source: Graycar, Reg, Law Reform by Frozen Chook: Family Law Reform for the New Millennium? (2000). Melbourne University Law Review, Vol. 24, pp. 737-755, 2000; Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 08/72. Available at SSRN:http://ssrn.com/abstract=1170522

ORIGINAL SOURCE

What Rihanna’s Dior campaign means for fashion

The singer will become the iconic house’s first black representative – here’s why it matters

Fashion Blogs

5 months ago

• Text Emma Hope Allwood
 
• Photography Lea Colombo

Rihanna at Dior’s Resort AW14 show in Brooklynvia Pinterest.com

 x24

Dior AW15

Just after fronting the first ever digital magazine cover – AnOther’s special tablet edition, created by Dazed founder Jefferson Hack – Rihanna has claimed another world first. On Friday,Dior announced that the singer was to front a film and print campaign for their Secret Garden series, lensed by legendary photographer Steven Klein in the Palace of Versailles, an appointment that will make her the first black spokesperson of the fashion house in its almost 70 year history. “It is such a big deal for me, for my culture, for a lot of young girls of any color,” the singer said yesterday. “To be acknowledged by Dior means a lot, as a woman.” But what does it mean – not only for Dior and the vision of its outsider creative director Raf Simons – but for the fashion industry?

To start with, the house is far from the first fashion brand to harness the star power that Rihanna can bring. The CFDA Fashion Icon winner was recently announced as the creative director of PUMA, has posed for Armani Jeans and was the face of Balmain’s SS14 campaign, with designer Olivier Rousteing citing the singer – also his muse and a close friend – as the ultimate 21st century supermodel. “Today people are looking at Rihanna like they were looking at Naomi Campbell or Claudia,” he told the Independent last year. “I think having Rihanna in the campaign is like having Cindy Crawford or Christy Turlington, but for my generation."

What defines this generation? Increasingly, social media, of which @BadGalRiRi is a reigning champion. Despite its frequent deletion due to her NSFW selfies, she’s got 16 million followers onher Instagram profile, her pictures regularly racking up half a million likes, with another 42 million fans on Twitter. It’s the type of digital influence that hasn’t gone unnoticed, as social media continues to break down the boundaries between high fashion and popular culture. “Customers don't care any more about reviews or hard-copy publications,” Tom Ford told Style.com of fashion last year. "They care what picture Rihanna just Instagrammed while she's naked in bed, what new shoes she has on, how she's talking about them. That's what they respond to." You need only look at the Swarovski crystal covered Adam Selman dress she wore to the CFDA awards last year to see the online ripples her actions create (1,310,000 Google results for “Rihanna crystal dress” and counting).

After working with the likes of Natalie Portman and Jennifer Lawrence for their celebrity fronted campaigns, Dior’s next choice was unexpected, despite RiRi’s appearances on a couple of the house’s front rows. Since Simons’ appointment in 2012, Dior has been set on breaking the rules, rebelling against Paris’s infamous conservatism. The designer has made showgoers travel to Brooklyn (gasp), hired cinema’s enfant terrible Harmony Korine for a perfume ad, transformed the anarchistic, abstract artworks of friend and collaborator Sterling Ruby into gowns, and brought kinky latex thigh high boots to couture. The creation and release of a documentary, Dior and I, about Simons’ first show for the house, gives an unprecedented insider look at the mechanics of one of the most prestigious fashion brands in the world. Its candidness demonstrates both how Simons is using his outsider ethos to make his mark in Dior’s rich history, and the increasingly modern manifesto of the house itself – it’s willingness to connect with people beyond the privileged few who attend its shows.

While Simons hasn’t spoken out against majority-white casting in the way someone like Rousteing has (“What the fuck, you put just one black girl in to make sure you’ve ticked a box?” he asserted in our Winter 2014 issue) even having been called out for the lack of black models on his own runways before making an effort to diversify them, his era for Dior is defined by a constant questioning and redefinition of the idea of the brand’s ‘woman’. It’s a vision that now includes Rihanna. Despite the controversy that tends to surround some of her outfit choices (and her selfies) – something that once would have mortified a prestigious French fashion house – the industry seem relatively unfazed. If anything, Rihanna’s self belief endears her to it; Anna Wintour declared the singer as evidence that “incredible style can help take a talented young woman from a small island to the world stage, and along the way spark a lot of conversation about elegance and empowerment.”

Ultimately, Rihanna is a woman who has a great sense of ownership over her body and the way she chooses to display it. That self assuredness and power truly ties in to the woman Simons creates for at Dior, and although wildly different in terms of genre, it’s undeniable that she shares the attitude of the musical rebels the designer – who spent a youth sewing Black Flag and Kraftwerk patches to his clothes­ – has taken inspiration from at the house, including the likes ofDavid Bowie, Throbbing Gristle and Sonic Youth. But while we celebrate the landmarks that are overcome in fashion, it’s important not to forget about the hurdles that remain. In a recent Dazed interview, legendary model agent Carole White spoke frankly of the time it takes to kickstart a black model’s career, admitting that she doesn’t think “diversity has got much better over the years.” While choosing a black celebrity with the kind of power as Rihanna to front a campaign should be applauded for breaking down one more of fashion’s boundaries, it can hardly be considered a great casting risk of the kind that supposedly keeps more models of colour off the runways. It can, however, set a precedent – with the overwhelmingly positive response encouraging any fashion houses still stuck in their ways to change their line-ups to reflect the multicultural world we live in. God knows we’re ready for it.

Original Source 

Spouge award for ‘Cassius’

Added by George Alleyne on September 6, 2015.
Saved under Culture, Local News

Barbados last evening launched its 21st annual Community Independence Celebrations by honouring a stalwart of the arts, Winston ‘Cassius Clay’ Yearwood.

Winston ‘Cassius Clay’ Yearwood receiving his award from Culture Minister Stephen Lashley

Culture Minister, Stephen Lashley, told a large crowd at the Speightstown Esplanade that the Community Independence Secretariat recognizes the contribution made by persons to certain art forms that can be identified as truly Barbadian through what is known as the Spouge Awards.

Culture Minister Stephen Lashley addressing the launch

“This year, the stalwart chosen is none other than Mr Winston ‘Cassius Clay’ Yearwood, BCH, who has attained much in the area of culture.

“His story is one of struggle and persistence, also one of victory. What he has been able to accomplish and how he did it should be a source of inspiration for those who feel at times that there is no way out,” Lashley said.

A section of the crowd at the Speightstown Esplanade

Despite periods of rain the 2015 Parish Attendants and Ambassadors made a jubilant entry onto the blocked off Esplanade roadway for a night of entertainment.

Original Source