When large swathes of invasive seaweed started washing up on Caribbean beaches in 2011, local residents were perplexed.

Soon, mounds of unsightly sargassum – carried by currents from the Sargasso Sea and linked to climate change – were carpeting the region’s prized coastlines, repelling holidaymakers with the pungent stench emitted as it rots.

Precisely how to tackle it was a dilemma of unprecedented proportions for the tiny tourism-reliant islands with limited resources.

In 2018, Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley declared sargassum a national emergency.

Now, a pioneering group of Caribbean scientists and environmentalists hope to turn the tide on the problem by transforming the troublesome algae into a lucrative biofuel.

Image: Thor Tryggvason, Unsplash