Sargassum Tracker

All about sargassum: satellite images, forecasts and outlooks.

Forecast for February 3, 2026 -Small craft advisory in effect. Hazardous marine and coastal conditions. Waves 12-14 feet for the Atlantic and 5-7 feet Caribbean sea. Winds 15-20 knots with gusts. Rip currents.

USF OOL Long Term Outlook

LAST UPDATE: Jan 31, 2026

As predicted last month, Sargassum in the Caribbean continued to grow, from 0.45M tons in Dec 2025 to 1.7M tons in Jan 2026. While the E Atlantic remained stable, the W Atlantic saw a substantial increase from 4.1M to 5.5M tons. Except for the E Atlantic region, every other region saw record-high Sargassum amount for the month of January.

Looking ahead: As in the past years, Sargassum amount in most regions is likely to increase in the coming month. The W Caribbean will continue to see beaching events in some regions. Some of the Lesser Antilles islands may start to see beaching events. Because of the continuous growth from November to January and because of the record-high Sargassum amount in most regions, 2026 is very likely another major Sargassum year (i.e., Sargassum amount exceeds 75% of the historical values). All previous monthly bulletins as well as daily imagery can be found under the Sargassum Watch System (SaWS).

SARGASSUM ABUNDANCE INTENSITY

Details

Since 2011, large amounts of Sargassum seaweed appeared in the Caribbean Sea every summer except 2013, creating many environmental, ecological and economic problems in many regions. The seaweed originated from the tropical Atlantic, and is believed to be a result of climate variability and other natural and unnatural processes. Based on satellite observations and statistics of historical events, in early February 2018 the Optical Oceanography Lab developed the first 1-page Sargassum outlook bulletin for the Caribbean Sea. Since then, the bulletins have been generated and distributed to subscribers by the last day of the month. These monthly bulletins as well as further readings are available at the Sargassum Watch System (SaWS).

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Disclaimer

The information bulletin is meant to provide a general outlook of current bloom condition and future bloom probability for the Caribbean Sea. By no means should it be used for commercial purpose, or used for predicting bloom conditions for a specific location or beach. The authors of this bulletin, as well as Caricoos, USF and NASA, take no responsibility for improper use or interpretation of the bulletin. Any use of the image, data, or graph from this bulletin page in reports or publications should obtain permission from the USF OOL group.