{"id":133889,"date":"2025-09-05T04:23:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T04:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/133889\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T04:23:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T04:23:07","slug":"invasive-seaweed-stinks-up-one-of-the-north-shores-favorite-seaside-spots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/133889\/","title":{"rendered":"Invasive seaweed stinks up one of the North Shore’s favorite seaside spots"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEnvironment\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tIt smells pretty strongly of rotten eggs, and city officials say it\u2019s because the seaweed is naturally decomposing after washing ashore.<\/p>\n

\"An
\n\tAn invasive seaweed species is stinking up Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester. Erin Clark\/The Boston Globe\t<\/p>\n

Something\u2019s stinking up the sea in Gloucester, but city officials say it\u2019s nothing to get in the weeds about.<\/p>\n

\u201cNoticing a strong smell around East Gloucester?\u201d officials asked on Facebook<\/a>. Scores of residents were quick to chime in that they had noticed the \u201crotten egg-like odor\u201d coming off the coast of Good Harbor Beach.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, the source of the stink is an invasive Japanese seaweed called heterosiphonia japonica, according to the city. Strong winds last week from Hurricane Erin washed large amounts of the seaweed ashore, and high tides carried it into the estuary.<\/p>\n

The algae doesn\u2019t normally smell so pungent, but without a strong enough tide to bring it back out to sea, it\u2019s been sitting around and decomposing, officials said. As the seaweed breaks down, it releases the unpleasant odor.<\/p>\n

The invasive species, also known as dasysiphonia japonica<\/a>,\u00a0 first spread to the East Coast in 2008 when it was found off the coast of Rhode Island, according to the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. It can now be found along the coast from Nova Scotia down to the south side of Long Island.<\/p>\n

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