Sargassum cleanup fell behind due to workers being diverted to the deployment effort, but was restarted once the barrier was installed. The barrier installation was successful, but the sargassum on the beach is still significant, due to unusual amounts of sargassum in the Cozumel strait coming from the north.  This is causing sargassum to come into the bay from the northern gap in the barrier. There is a north-south current happening right now, but currents near the coastline are always variable.  The problem is how much sargassum is coming from the north, which is unusual. EPA is planning on extending the barrier to mitigate this situation, but has insufficient funds to do this.  

As a result, EPA is currently doing a second fundraising push to raise the funds to continue the project through the rest of the season. The reasons for the need for additional funding are:

• Very early start to the sargassum season. This resulted in significantly increased beach cleanup costs from January through April.
• Most severe sargassum year to date, according to all available sources.
• Inability to purchase a locally sourced barrier to do repairs to our barrier. This caused an eight-week delay in deployment and added expenses and shipping/customs costs to buy the barrier parts from Europe and have them air shipped.
• Shortfall in donations. The Sargassum Mitigation Project was budgeted at $210,000 USD, but only received $180,000 USD in initial donations. So the project started $30,000 short. The project was initiated even though the entire amount wasn’t raised, because it was felt more people would contribute when the project was farther along.

The HMB Sargassum Mitigation Project has purchased a lot of equipment to increase the effectiveness and success of this project, including:

• An 825 Meter barrier (over half a mile) with 750 Meters currently installed
• A Ford F150 pickup truck for sargassum removal (as the truck rental for one season was the same as the cost of the truck).
• A low-draft inflatable boat for barrier deployment and all water-based operations
• Two four-wheel drive ATV’s
• Two custom manufactured sargassum removal trailers
• Eight custom manufactured stainless steel sargassum boxes
• Other tools and equipment to support operations and diving needs

The project is well situated for 2027, as all of this equipment is already purchased. However, the project needs more funds to continue through the 2026 season, which as previously stated, is worse than ever recorded and is costing more to deal with than was budgeted. 

This year, as of May 8, the Sargassum Mitigation Project has removed 1876 cubic meters of sargassum. This is equivalent to about 375 truckloads using normal methods.

We are hoping for one very tangible benefit to our sargassum mitigation efforts – increased turtle nesting this season! Last year’s turtle nesting numbers were worse than ever recorded – only 32 turtle nests in 2025, vs. 105 in 2024, and 168 in 2023, the last year the barrier was installed. This is a catastrophic drop in turtle nesting that must be remedied. The sargassum berms from last year prevented turtles from reaching the beach, according to Claudia from CEA. 

To join the fight against sargassum and to restore the turtle nesting numbers, please donate to the Project using one of the methods here:

www.hmbsargassumproject.com/donationpaymentoptions.

To view the financial summary of the project, showing expenses, run rate, cash on hand and projected expenses, please look here:

Things work best for the benefit of Akumal Norte when we all work together!