Praia da Rocha, in Portimão, has had a large amount of this species of invasive algae for more than a week.

A source from the Portimão City Council revealed to Correio da Manhã that a cleaning action was carried out this Monday with equipment from the Municipal Water and Waste Company of Portimão (EMARP), however, the tide “brought everything back”. The Municipality has now hired a company with heavier machinery to try to solve the problem.

In June several beaches from Albufeira to Portimão were affected by this Asian algae. In Carvoeiro alone, 400 tons of algae were removed.

The phenomenon, which has already occurred in 2021 and 2022, led the Center for Marine Sciences (CCMAR) of the University of Algarve (UAlg) to create, two years ago, a platform to collect data on the algae found on Algarve beaches and understand which invasive species lead to large accumulations on the beaches.

Researchers know that Rugulopteryx okamurae first appeared in the south of France, where there is oyster aquaculture, and then spread to Spain, Morocco and Portugal.

However, there are other algae that accumulate on the beaches of the central Algarve, between Albufeira and Faro, such as the invasive red algae Asparagopsis armata, native to the waters of Australia and New Zealand, which was responsible for the accumulations recorded in 2021 and in 2022.