Sargassum is a genus of brown macroalgae (seaweed) in the order Fucales of the class Phaeophyceae.[1] This brown macroalgae comes from the Sargasso Sea, which was named because it hosts large amounts of Sargassum.[2] Sargassum can extend for kilometers across the ocean surface, forming golden brown drifting mats that move with the currents and wind; in recent years, Sargassum has been known for arriving in large quantities throughout the Caribbean region.
More recently, scientists have found using satellite data that a new hotspot has been forming from western Africa and extends into the Caribbean Sea, called the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt (GASB).[3]
