Since the 1970s, the Mexican Caribbean has strategically been transformed into a 'tourist paradise', attracting millions of travelers annually. What most people – both locals and tourists – don't realize is how crucial seagrasses are for sustaining this 'paradise'. Currently, the region faces escalating climate change challenges, with the most prominent being the arrival of Sargassum algae in atypical amounts. These algae contribute to destroying seagrasses and strain the local ecosystem. However, adopting a multi-species approach, we see that Sargassum also generates new human-seagrass relations. This paper explores these dynamics by examining emerging relationships between diverse ocean creatures, focusing on the role of natural scientists. The impact of these changes extends beyond the Mexican Caribbean, reflecting a global phenomenon in our algae-dominated Anthropocene. This reality was brought home to me when, during my conference visit to Barcelona, the receptionist at my hotel advised me to avoid Barceloneta Beach due to an abundance of algae and dead seagrasses.
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