Giant blobs of seaweed are hitting Florida. That's when the real problem begins

A large quantity of seaweed, sargassum macroalgae, is floating on the water with vacationing sunbathers at Miami Beach, Fla. (Jeff Greenberg/Getty Images)

It used to be that the conversation around subtropical marine life centered on declines: the death of coral beds, the diminishing variety of seagrasses, the disappearance of fish.

But for now, it's an overabundance that's hard to miss. From Montego to Miami, an influx of algae called sargassum is leaving stinky brown carpets over what was once prime tourist sand. It's the most sargassum researchers have tracked this early in the year.