Geoff Tinegate took a picture of the brown contents at low tide on the beach near the Marrocco’s restaurant.
He posted the image on Facebook on Wednesday, and residents expressed their concerns and theories on what it could be.
Charlotte Brighton said: “It’s poo, isn’t it?”
Suzy Tyson said: “It’s probably to do with the frequencies that the wind turbines give off and it effects the water.”
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Gemma May said: “It’s probably poop from Southern Water waste management on Portslade seafront.”
But Dan Hacking said: “It’s the usual May bloom – algae growth and then it rots, often can smell quite bad.”
The brown lumps are suspected to be algal bloom, which Brighton and Hove City Council states is a harmless natural phenomenon.
According to the council’s website, algal bloom occurs when the water temperature rises and causes algae to reproduce.
The algal bloom season lasts for a month before disappearing.
Brighton and Hove City Council states: “If you see sludgy-looking stuff that doesn’t smell very nice on parts of the beach during the summer, don’t panic! It’s called algal bloom.”
The Environment Agency states that algal bloom accumulates in early summer and produces clouds of frog-spawn-like colonies which appear similar to oil drops in the water.
Algal blooms can appear as a creamy-brown foam on the water’s surface, and in rare cases, the blooms can form thick blankets alongside the shoreline.
Yesterday an Environment Agency spokesman told The Argus: “We believe the suspected sewage pollution on Rottingdean and Hove beaches is the breakdown of algal blooms.
“It’s easy to mistake algae for sewage, particularly as both have an unpleasant smell, but foam on the water’s surface or on the beach is most likely to be the result of an algal bloom breaking down.
“If you suspect a pollution incident, please contact our 24-hour hotline on 0800 80 70 60.”
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