Giant rotten egg-smelling seaweed blob shrinks off Florida coast

The tide may finally be turning.

The enormous, smelly seaweed blob that has blanketed Florida’s beaches and surrounding ocean for months is washing away much earlier than expected, leaving experts stunned.

The Sargassum quantity in the Gulf of Mexico has shrunk to just roughly 9 million metric tons in weight — a significant drop that is more than a third of its original size since the stinky seaweed began washing up on South Florida’s coast in March.

“Although last month we predicted a decrease in the [Gulf of Mexico] in June, the magnitude of the decrease (75%) was beyond expectation,” researchers from the University of South Florida announced last week.

“Very little Sargassum was found by the end of June in the Straits of Florida and along the east coast of Florida.”

Experts believe the brown seaweed — famously known for its stench reminiscent of rotten eggs — is being pushed away from the US toward the Central West Atlantic, where reports of Sargassum have increased over recent weeks.

Counties surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea will benefit from decreased Sargassum as the 5,000-mile Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt, which carries the smelly seaweed, continues to move.

Luckily, experts believe the amount of Sargassum on Florida beaches will only continue to wither as the summer progresses.

“Looking ahead … we predict that the Sargassum amount in the [Gulf of Mexico] will remain minimal,” researchers said.

“This trend may continue in the next 2-3 months, which should be good news to the residents living in the Florida Keys and east coast of Florida as well as in the west coast of the [Carribean Sea].”

Incredible clumps of Sargassum swarmed the Sunshine State in mid-March, mainly spiling up along Key West, Fort Lauderdale and other South Florida communities.

Researchers estimated that the massive Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt — visible this year from space — was carrying an estimated 13.5 million metric tons of Sargassum as it made its way toward the Gulf of Florida.

The algae bloom doesn’t have an odor until it washes up on shore and begins to rot and emits hydrogen sulfide, a substance that can be blamed for the rotten egg smell.

While the Florida Department of Health states that the algae are typically non-harmful to humans — aside from potential rashes and blisters caused by the tiny creatures that inhabit the Sargassum — this year’s invasion also carried flesh-eating bacteria.

The seaweed had been intertwining with plastic marine debris that carries a bacteria called Vibrio, which experts described as “the dominant cause of death in humans from the marine environment.”

An abundance of Sargassum can also wreak havoc while in shallow waters by blocking light from reaching coral and negatively impacting air and water quality as the seaweed rots.