Authorities on Mexico's Caribbean coast are battling to remove tons of sargassum seaweed that has been washing ashore in recent weeks.

Govenor Roberto Borge said the seaweed removal efforts will focus on much of the coast, from Holbox in the north down past Tulum to the south.

The state government of Quintana Roo, where the resort of Cancun is located, revealed there have been no reports of tourists cancelling visits because of the problem.

Tourists walk past large quantities of seaweed piling up on the beach in the Mexican resort city of Cancun, Mexico

Cancun shoreline: The seaweed invasion, which appears to have hit most of the Caribbean this year, is considered by scientists an important part of the coastal eco-system

Photos issued by the Cancun city government show piles of brown seaweed blighting the normally pristine white beaches.

By last week, the city said it had raked and shovelled up 500 cubic meters of sargassum.

Borge noted that the cause of the invasion is still unknown, though it has been speculated that it is could be due to high levels of nutrients in ocean water or changes in ocean temperatures, currents or wind patterns.

Authorities have to be careful, because there are two groups of visitors they don't want to disturb with overly aggressive removal efforts: nesting sea turtles that return to the Caribbean beaches to lay their eggs and tourists.

Borge said the effort would try not to cause erosion on the beaches, which has been a problem in Cancun in the past.

A woman inspects large quantities of seaweed piling up on the beach in the Mexican resort city of Cancun

The government announced the formation of a task force of naval and environmental authorities to study the problem. Authorities are also researching ways to use or dispose of the seaweed mounds.

Sargassum is an algae that grows in the Sargasso Sea, a large body of warm water in the mid-Atlantic.