In a four-part mini-series, released in the run-up to the UN Oceans Conference, we explore some of the ocean-related issues facing the eastern Caribbean island nation of Barbados.

This episode concentrated on the worrying spread of sargassum seaweed, which arrived unannounced in 2011, and has been a regular fixture on much of the coastline ever since.

There’s no single answer to why the seaweed is clogging up the beaches and waters, but many scientists believe that the climate crisis is at least partly to blame.

Conor Lennon went to Barbados for UN News, to find out what effect sargassum is having on the island’s environment, and why some entrepreneurs on the island, and UN scientists, believe that it could eventually have a positive effect on the economy.

Music: Within the Earth, Ketsa