Pelagic Sargassum is a buoyant macroalgae that forms rafts at the ocean surface and serves as biologically rich habitat for hundreds of diverse marine species. Since 2011, massive blooms have occurred in tropical Atlantic swept through western Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, Gulf Mexico. These recurring annual events caused significant disruptions to coastal communities throughout region, negatively i...

Since 2011, massive stranding of the brown algae Sargassum has regularly affected coastal waters West Caribbean, Brazil and Africa, leading to significant environmental socio-economic impacts. The AFAI algal index (Alternative Floating Algae Index) is often used with remote sensing data in order estimate coverage, more precisely deviation, which consists difference between Sargassum-free backgr...