Nitrogen

A long-term project with a hefty price tag in western Massachusetts is getting a boost in funding. As WAMC reports, it’s part of a greater effort to protect and restore aquatic life up and down the Connecticut River and as far as the Long Island Sound.

Each summer, vast quantities of Sargassum seaweed spread across the tropical Atlantic and foul the coasts of the Caribbean Islands, the Gulf of Mexico, and northern South America. The Sargassum is not only bad for tourism, it also disrupts ecosystems by providing massive amounts of food for many marine species, upsetting the balance of those systems.