Tons of brown algae is washed up on Las Canteras beach

The strong waves that have hit the Canary Islands coast in recent days with heights of more than three metres in places, have brought a large quantity of brown algae (Lobophora variegata) to the shore of Las Canteras beach in Gran Canaria, in what is a natural phenomenon and a result of winter storms.

According to the data managed by the Ciudad de Mar department of the Las Palmas City Council, in the last week, around 49 or 50 tons of brown algae have been removed from the beach. This has required the use of trucks and diggers for seven days to transport the material deposited in the sand, to the Salto del Negro environmental centre to analyze it and guarantee the hygienic-health conditions and the safety of users of the beach.

The estimate of 50 tons is a calculation made based on the capacity of the trucks, which is around 7,000 kilos, although it is necessary to discount the sand and other materials that may have been mixed in with the algae during its collection by the diggers.

In fact, on Sunday you could see, what looked like, a large mountain of seaweed on which some children were playing. However, a closer look revealed that under the layer of algae there was a large sand dune caused by the dragging of the tractors in the beach cleaning area.

Ciudad de Mar has explained that not all of the algae is removed so as not to deprive the eco-system of a natural source of nutrients for plant life and invertebrates, but the largest accumulations are removed and have confirmed that the beach is safe to use.

The main drawbacks and complaints of these massive arrivals of seaweed are the fact they are very slippery to walk on, and bad smells derived from the decomposition of the algae.

THE WORST YEAR WAS 1994:
The episode of this last week has not been the most voluminous of those on record on the beach of Las Canteras, especially when taking into account, according to studies by the Technological Institute of the Canary Islands (ITC), that some 1,200 tons are deposited on the shore of Las Canteras beach every year.

In studies between 1994 and 2007, it highlights that in 1994 over 3,100 tons were collected, allowing for 10% in the weighing process for remnants of mixed waste from its collection.