Why is NASA Tracking Seaweed from Space

Narration: Katie Jepson

Transcript:

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[MUSIC]

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Something strange has been happening to the beaches across the Caribbean in recent years.

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Large amounts of a brown seaweed, called Sargassum,

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have been washing up on shorelines.

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Normally found in the open ocean, Sargassum causes

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a whole host of issues for coastal ecosystems and communities.

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So where is this seaweed coming from?

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Let's find out.

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Historically, Sargassum was found in scattered patches outside its main range.

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But then something strange happened.

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In the winter of 2009 to 2010, unusual wind patterns pushed water eastward

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from the Sargasso Sea towards the Strait of Gibraltar, where a portion

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was transported southward by the Canary Current along the coast of Africa,

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delivering a large Sargassum population to the tropical Atlantic,

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where it thrived on nutrients from various sources.

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This established a new, separate, population of the seaweed

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and gave rise to...

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ROY: The Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt

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That's Roy Armstrong, a professor

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in the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico.

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Roy has been trying to figure out the impacts of Sargassum blooms

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that have been washing up on Caribbean coastlines.

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ROY: Sargassum is an essential habitat in the open ocean.

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Think of it as an oasis in the middle of the desert,

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it provides shelter, for turtles, for many fishes.

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VO: Problem is, when fueled by excess nutrients, Sargassum can quickly grow

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and upend the ecology around the islands, which can have negative consequences

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for near-shore communities and their economies.

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One of the biggest threats is the pungent and toxic hydrogen sulfide

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gas that Sargassum releases when it decomposes on shorelines.

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There is so much Sargassum that now regularly washes up on the coast,

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that local governments are searching for ways to estimate

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the size and location of blooms - and their trajectories,

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so they can better predict when it will reach the shoreline.

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ROY: Because, we cannot deal with all the Sargassum.

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So what we need is to prioritize - if you can track with satellites

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a patch that you know is going to impact

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a very sensitive area, then you know that

that's the highest priority.

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Now you want to intercept that Sargassum

before it comes to shore.

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VO: Computer models can rewind the clock

to see how currents transport water

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across the Atlantic, and help researchers

piece together where blooms originate.

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Additionally, instruments on NASA satellites

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can detect the signatures of large blooms

as they move across the ocean.

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ROY: The remote sensing technology of NASA is very important

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first, to detect Sargassum, and then to track it.

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And this way we will have a pretty good idea if

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a large patch has the potential of coming

to the coast and accumulating,

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and therefore impacting the marine ecosystems.

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VO: PACE, one of NASA's

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and therefore impacting the marine

ecosystems Pace, one of NASA's

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newest satellites, can add to our growing

knowledge of Sargassum blooms,

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further helping researchers decipher this new threat.

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ROY: Sargassum in general, I don't think it's

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something that we're going to see go away because

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that new population is in an area that is perfect for growth.

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So the the issue is how we're going

to deal with the Sargassum problem,

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And that's one of the reasons that satellite remote sensing

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could be very beneficial.

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VO: Sargassum continues to threaten coastal communities

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could be very beneficial VO: Sargassum

continues to threaten coastal communities

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around the Caribbean, but satellites

and instruments can track how and why

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these blooms occur, and help us better safeguard coastal

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ecosystems, and the communities that rely on them.