A 5,000-mile blanket of seaweed that can be seen from space threatens the beaches of Florida

[InsaneHawkJJP]

Sounds good.

Can we store it in your backyard in the meantime?

Sure, I’ve got plenty of room! You’re paying the shipping costs though.

 

[lucas80]

Can it be fed to the manatees that are starving in Florida?

 

[artradley]

Algae can be used as a food, fuel, and medicine. It’s a great natural resource. What’s the problem here? Like others have said, use this stuff for a good purpose!

There are a multitude of problems, from the destruction of coral reefs and restriction of oxygen that smothers fish, to threatening the entire tourist industry that Carribean nations depend on. This is not an innocuous thing, it is a serious ecological and economic threat.

 

[Formerly Rockymtnole]

Maybe someone could come up with some type of floating hay balers. A fleet of big open-bow ships plowing through that stuff and dumping it in the middle of the Atlantic. Or some sort of grinder to just mow through it and try to get the amounts down to normal levels.

Sounds like a job for Kramerica Industries.

 

[artradley]

Maybe someone could come up with some type of floating hay balers. A fleet of big open-bow ships plowing through that stuff and dumping it in the middle of the Atlantic. Or some sort of grinder to just mow through it and try to get the amounts down to normal levels.

Sounds like a job for Kramerica Industries.

That definitely seems like the best possible solution. It is fine while it’s floating in open seas, it’s when it hits the coast that it causes damage; both economic and ecological.

Sweeping it up after it lands on the beach is useless.