Sargassum

Mats of free-floating sargassum, a common seaweed found in the Sargasso Sea, provide shelter and habitat to many animals.

The Sargasso Sea is a vast patch of ocean named for a genus of free-floating seaweed called Sargassum.

While there are many different types of algae found floating in the ocean all around world, the Sargasso Sea is unique in that it harbors species of sargassum that are holopelagic. This means that the algae not only freely floats around the ocean, but it reproduces vegetatively on the high seas. Other seaweeds reproduce and begin life on the floor of the ocean.

Sargassum provides a home to an amazing variety of marine species.

Turtles use sargassum mats as nurseries where hatchlings have food and shelter.

Sargassum provides essential habitat for shrimp, crab, fish, and other marine species that have adapted specifically to this floating algae.