Paper Short Abstract:

Coastal ecosystems face increasing anthropogenic climate change, with algae blooms as powerful actors within emerging multi-species entanglements. Based on fieldwork in Mexico and Germany, I explore how marine biologists narrate algae as both antagonists and companions in the Anthropocene.

Paper Abstract:

Coastal ecosystems increasingly confront the pressures of climate change and anthropogenic disturbance. Algae blooms, often harmful, like Sargassum in the Caribbean represent a powerful example of more-than-human entanglements in coastal ecosystems. This paper engages with ethnographic insights from fieldwork among marine biologists in Mexico and Germany to explore how these scientists articulate their interactions with algae within the broader discourse of the Anthropocene. By examining the complex narratives surrounding Sargassum blooms, I investigate how marine biologists come to view algae not simply as ecological burdens, but as agents of interaction, acting as both disruptors and companions in addressing anthropogenic climate change. Sargassum blooms, often perceived as purely detrimental due to impacts such as obstructed beach access, economic losses in tourism and fisheries, and health risks from biomass decomposition, also provoke new perspectives on interspecies agency and more-than-human responses to environmental change. This paper examines how such narratives of both algae as “antagonist species” and "companion species" provide a means of recentering algae within shared coastal lifeworlds, inviting a shift toward collaborative relationships. Through these lived encounters, I address how scientists narrate Sargassum as both a symbol and an actor within the complex, unstable rhythms of coastal life, challenging traditional binaries between humans and non-human ‘others’ in these critical, transitional spaces.