In 2011, massive rafts of Sargassum —a brown seaweed—washed up on beaches across the Caribbean, trapping sea turtles and filling the air with the stench of rotting eggs. The deluge was the first of its kind, but since then it has become a regular phenomenon. At first, scientists thought the seaweed drifted down from the North Atlantic9s Sargasso Sea, where most Sargassum is found. But satellite imagery and data on ocean currents told a different story, revealing a new source in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. Now, scientists are scrambling to figure out what has caused the mysterious seaweed blooms.

中文翻译：

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海藻群袭击加勒比岛屿


2011年，大量的马尾藻（一种棕色海藻）被冲上加勒比海的海滩，困住了海龟，空气中弥漫着腐蛋的恶臭。这次洪水是第一次，但从那时起它已成为一种常见现象。起初，科学家认为这些海藻是从北大西洋的马尾藻海漂流下来的，那里是马尾藻最多的地方。但卫星图像和洋流数据讲述了一个不同的故事，揭示了热带大西洋的新来源。现在，科学家们正在努力找出导致神秘海藻大量繁殖的原因。