Caribbean beaches blighted by record masses of stinking seaweed

Scientists puzzled by huge amounts of prickly sargassum suffocating shorelines from Puerto Rico to Guyana

A record amount of sargassum has piled up across the Caribbean and nearby areas in May, and more is expected this month, according to a new study.

The brown prickly algae is suffocating shorelines from Puerto Rico to Guyana and beyond, disrupting tourism, killing wildlife and even releasing toxic gases that forced one school in the French Caribbean island of Martinique to temporarily close.