Crews Move Seaweed Ahead of Memorial Day

Galveston Park Board crews began moving sargassum away from the waterline on Wednesday after seaweed buildup on parts of the island reached the threshold that allows heavy machinery to be used. The work covered public beach areas from East Beach to 75th Street, according to the Galveston County Daily News. The Park Board says it relocates sargassum only during extreme inundation and under a federal permit renewed in January 2024. (galvnews.com) Memorial Day weekend crowds are expected within days as officials try to keep access open while avoiding damage to dunes and wildlife habitat. (cwcgom.aoml.noaa.gov) ### Why are crews moving the seaweed now? (visitgalveston.com) Wednesday’s cleanup followed weeks of visible sargassum buildup along the Galveston shoreline. The Daily News reported that the accumulation had reached the threshold for the Park Board of Trustees to use heavy equipment to push seaweed away from the public beach waterline. The Galveston Park Board says it is the only entity on the island authorized to relocate sargassum on federally regulated beaches. Its Seaweed Emergency Relocation Program says the material is normally left in place because it helps trap sand, protect against erosion and support marine life, but relocation is allowed during emergency inundation events under U.S. (galvnews.com) Army Corps of Engineers permit SWG-2014-00448. ### What exactly is sargassum, and why not remove all of it? Sargassum is a brown seaweed that forms floating mats in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf, according to the Park Board and NOAA. Those mats can serve as habitat, food and nursery grounds for marine species before washing ashore. (galvnews.com) Once on the beach, the seaweed can help build sand and support dune protection, the Park Board says. Large landings also create problems. Houston Public Media reported on April 30 that Galveston beachgoers were seeing unusually deep piles, while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says decaying sargassum can release ammonia and hydrogen sulfide and may cause health effects. (galvestonparkboard.org) ### How bad is the 2026 season looking? NOAA and the University of South Florida said their daily Sargassum Inundation Risk tool was updated this month to provide daily reports instead of weekly ones. The May 18 status page says the system classifies shoreline risk in four categories — low, warning, medium and high — and updates the fields every day. (galvestonparkboard.org) University of South Florida outlooks and related monitoring pages say 2026 is set to be another major sargassum year and is likely to become a record year by summer. USF’s April 30 bulletin said nearly every monitored region continued to post record-high sargassum amounts for April, while CARICOOS said beaching events could also occur along the Texas coast. (houstonpublicmedia.org) ### What are scientists and local officials watching in Galveston? Galveston-based extreme weather scientist Hal Needham told Houston Public Media that spring and early summer usually bring more seaweed in the Gulf and Caribbean. He said scientists track the buildup using NOAA’s inundation tool, which now provides daily location and risk reports. (cwcgom.aoml.noaa.gov) Matthieu Le Henaff, an oceanographer at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, said in a NOAA release cited by Houston Public Media that the season is entering the period when sargassum is growing in the ocean and the risk is increasing that winds and currents will carry it ashore. (optics.marine.usf.edu) ### What happens next before Memorial Day weekend? Memorial Day weekend begins in the United States on May 23, and Galveston officials are continuing beach-condition updates as cleanup work proceeds. Visit Galveston maintains a live beach-conditions page, while the Park Board’s seaweed program page outlines the relocation rules and the 2026 operating timeline for permitted response. (houstonpublicmedia.org) (visitgalveston.com)