Source: REUTERS

Something wicked this way comes, in the form of brown seaweed (well really it's a type of algae).

Sargassum was once presumed to only exist in the nutrient-poor waters of the Sargasso Sea. However, recent research reveals the journey of sargassum from nutrient-rich coastal areas to the open ocean via oceanic currents, such as the Loop Current and the Gulf Stream.

‘Nutrient loading’ from rivers on ocean processes, like from agricultural runoff, wastewate discharge and atmospheric deposition, fuels the massive growth of sargassum on coasts.

This sargassum then travels from the sea towards areas in the open ocean, namely the North Atlantic. Nutrient recycling within sargassum populations sustains the blooms, which explains why we have the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt: the

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