Playa del Carmen

Mexico has spent US$17 million to remove over a half-million tons of sargassum seaweed from its Caribbean beaches, and the problem doesn't seem likely to end any time soon.

Sargassum is infesting Mexico’s coastline. Researchers are scrambling to stop an ecological crisis, and maybe even make something good of it.

Scientists say the threat from sargassum is as serious as rising sea levels and hurricanes.

Swaths of sargassum are suffocating shorelines and snuffing out marine life while spooking visitors in areas that depend heavily on tourism.