The phenomenon is ‘normal’ because animals are associated with sargassum: environmentalist
Tulum, Quintana Roo, (May 21, 2021).- Given the report from nautical service providers about the landing of dead fish among the sargassum masses in recent days, environmental authorities are analyzing where they were found on the coastal shores of Tulum.
In this regard, Juan José Domínguez, in charge of the Mexican Caribbean Biosphere Reserve, reported that through journalistic notes they had knowledge of this phenomenon and began verification actions.
He added that what they have reported is the presence of small fish that live associated with sargassum, in this case of the balloon species, which are dying when they reach the beach, a fact that he considered normal.
He explained that sargassum itself is an ecosystem where many animals live: fish, snails, shrimp, and a great variety, and while the macroalgae are floating they live refugees in it.
“The moment the sargassum reaches the beach, the ecosystem collapses and with it all the fauna and flora that live inside it. The one we have seen in the photos is a kind of pufferfish and it is normal if it is those fish, ” he said.
He mentioned that if this problem is verified, they will carry out the corresponding studies to rule out any other hypothesis: “they are living beings and they are dying along with their ecosystem, it is as if the jungle moves and suddenly reaches a limit where it is destroyed and everything that it is inside it would suffer the same fate ”, he pointed out.
Source: La Jornada Maya
