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More than 17,000 tons of Sargassum removed from Riviera Maya beaches during 2020 season

Riviera Maya, Q.R. — Governor Carlos Joaquín says the state collected more than 17,000 tons of algae during the 2020 Sargassum season, which ended mid-September.

He reports that the Secretary of the Navy, the government of Quintana Roo and the municipal councils of Isla Mujeres, Benito Juárez, Puerto Morelos, Cozumel, Solidaridad, Tulum and Othón P. Blanco together collected just over 17,000 tons of sargassum from beaches and maritime areas.

Carlos Joaquín stressed that due to the continual cleaning, the beaches of the Mexican Caribbean look splendid. He says that the sargassum was collected from 45 beaches in seven municipalities during the season.

Rear Admiral Enrique Flores Morado, coordinator of Sargasso Strategy in Quintana Roo, reported that 24 vessels were deployed to collect algae, six of which, were the specially built sargassum vessels.

He explained that added to that, they also deployed sweepers, tractors and an aircraft in which reconnaissance tours were carried out in the vicinity of the municipalities of Solidaridad, Benito Juárez, Puerto Morelos, Tulum, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres and Othón P. Blanco.

At the beginning of the season, these municipalities also installed more than 4,250 meters of containment barriers. The 2020 Sargassum Season for Riviera Maya was declared over in mid-September due to a lack of algae.