Everyone in North Akumal, including those of us initially doubtful, hoped for the success of the sargassum barrier across the mouth of Half Moon Bay. Unfortunately, we were doomed to disappointment. Below are the points raised in favor of the barrier and the facts on the ground that invalidate them.

• 1.       "The sargassum is an existential threat. Tourists will not come; rentals will dry up and North Akumal will die unless it is eliminated. " 
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• After four or five seasons of heavy sargassum, North Akumal is thriving. Use of microbial spray eliminated the foul smelling and corrosive Hydrogen Sulfide gas caused by the decomposition of sargassum, which had been most objectionable to prospective renters. This has been one of the most successful rental seasons ever. Even now, during the summer doldrums, there are many renters, and the restaurants are busier than in past years.
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• 2.      a. "The barrier will divert most of the sargassum in Half Moon Bay and is the best if not the only way to go."

A stroll along the beach, if you can get past the fresh sargassum piling each day further and further onto the beach, belies this prediction. What diversion occurred has been to send more sargassum to some areas of the bay that had been relatively sargassum-free in the past.

b. "No, no!" We are told, "it was never expected to eliminate more than 70% of the sargassum, we’re at 50%, and with a tweak here and a tweak there, we will reach our goal. "

If this is 50% in Half Moon Bay, we should expect to see vast mats of sargassum floating past the bay, however, there is more sargassum inside of the barrier than outside.

c. Some years are worse than others, so this may be a high-volume year for sargassum or the currents or the winds aren’t behaving as they should.

If this is a high-volume year, we would expect to hear reports from the beaches around us of a large influx of sargassum. To the contrary, Xpu Ha, Kantenah, Akumal Beach, Jade Bay, Aventuras Akumal and Bahia Principe all have lower levels of sargassum this year. Despite predictions of a high-volume year on the Caribbean Coast, this has been a light year for sargassum.

• 3.      "There may be sargassum on the beach, but it should not be a burden only on the bay properties.  Cleaning the beach should be a community project. All the property owners of North Akumal should contribute money or workers to help keep the beach free of sargassum."

Community projects such as the roads, the lights, the park, and the pluma are for the benefit of everyone in North Akumal. Cleaning the beach benefits at most only one-third of the owners in North Akumal. Properties not on the beach have no access.  It is de facto a private beach. As such it is the responsibility of the owners on the beach, and theirs alone, to maintain sargassum free beaches in front of their properties.

d. "Anyway, the sargassum on the beach is mostly “legacy” sargassum left over from before the barrier was installed and no one is cleaning the beach."

No, it is not “legacy” sargassum.  This year Zofemat initiated a program of cleaning affected beaches in Tulum Municipality. So far this summer they have come three times with a crew of twenty-five workers and two large capacity twenty-foot trucks to clean the worst areas of Half Moon Bay. Pictures taken within days of the cleanup show the accumulation of fresh sargassum on the beach as bad or worse than before.

• 4.      "The barrier will not affect the nesting turtles or their offspring."

Although we will not know the effect of the barrier on the baby turtles until the eggs start hatching, the way the barrier has affected the nesting mothers trying to come through does not bode well for how many dead baby-turtle bodies we may expect to find floating inside the barrier when they try to leave. The number of nests on Half Moon Bay Beach is only 30% of the number last year because the turtles aren’t reaching the beach.

• a.      "Fewer turtle nests may just be the result of the natural fluctuations in the numbers of returning turtles."

Comparative statistics show that while the number of nests on Half Moon Bay beach has drastically decreased from last year, on Akumal Beach, Jade Bay Beach and South Akumal Beach the number of nests has increased over last year. Perhaps those mother turtles blocked from Half Moon Bay merely moved on to the next nearest beaches.

• b.     "The nesting turtles were probably blocked by the accumulated sargassum on Half Moon Bay beaches, not by the barrier."

Unfortunately for this argument, many of the turtle nests can be found in the sands right behind the piled up sargassum, which means the sargassum hasn’t prevented those that reach the beach from getting through to dig their nests. We had as much sargassum on the beach last year and we had a banner year for nests.