Toxic microalgae causing mass death of marine life on South Australian peninsula

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The cause of a bloom that lead to the mass death of marine life and allergic reactions of swimmers and surfers on the Fleurieu peninsula has been identified as a toxic microalgae. Beaches remain closed and a plethora of sea creatures are continuing to wash up on coastal beaches, with the Environmental Protection Authority saying it unsure of when the bloom will disperse.

Transcript

00:00Floreo local Anthony Rowlands has been monitoring this beach and finding countless dead marine

00:07life since problems began more than a week ago.

00:09Yeah, it's pretty sad, but this shouldn't be happening.

00:13Authorities were alerted when foam started washing up on Waipinga and Parsons beaches

00:17near Victor Harbour.

00:18They ran tests and new results have found the cause, a microalgae named Karenia micimoto.

00:24We think that the bloom has been driven by a large marine heatwave which has engulfed

00:30our waters for the last couple of months.

00:34Last week's bloom also had an effect on surfers and swimmers, many experiencing a cough and

00:38a rash after going into the water.

00:41Not that it fixes the marine problem, but just knowing that it's not something that

00:46could be worse or man-made is quite a relief.

00:49Locals didn't wait for the OK to get back out on the water.

00:53Many out surfing and fishing today, despite the beaches remaining closed.

00:57They saw the foam on the beach, they saw the scum on the water and they went out anyway.

01:02Probably not the best decision to make.

01:04While the microalgae causes a toxic effect on fish, SA Health says it isn't harmful to

01:10humans.

01:11Obviously you shouldn't take fish that are already dead on the beach because they're

01:14decomposing.

01:15Today's news came as a relief for locals who are still seeing dead fish wash up on their

01:20beaches.

01:21Authorities say they don't know how long it will take for the bloom to disperse, and it

01:25could even be weeks before things return to normal.

01:28What we need to see is some change in the weather, preferably a cold front to come through

01:35with strong westerly winds to be able to break up the bloom.

01:38But a cool change won't be enough to stop any future blooms, with authorities warning

01:42warmer waters may cause further events down the track.

01:45If we're going to be dealing with these individual issues individually, we're not going to see

01:50the collective action that's required to seriously address the climate change that

01:54we already have, and the climate change that's likely to come unless the earth takes a different

01:59trajectory.

02:00A small symptom of a wider, growing problem.

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