An increase in shark sightings along the South Australian coastline has prompted the state government to extend its aerial shark patrol into winter.
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00:00Shark patrols across South Australia's coastline will be extended until 9 June following an increase in shark sightings and a spell of unseasonably hot weather.
00:13The two week extension period makes it the longest running shark season ever recorded in South Australia.
00:20This of course comes less than one week after a man in his 60s was attacked and bitten by a shark at Port Norlunga about 40 minutes south of Adelaide.
00:31Authorities have been monitoring the number of increased shark sightings across the state.
00:36Some of them have been seen swimming very close to the shoreline.
00:40There's also been several dead sharks which have washed up on beaches in previous weeks.
00:45This has caused some prominent marine biologists to question whether a toxic algal bloom which is currently affecting parts of the coastline including the Fleurieu and York peninsulas as well as Kangaroo Island could be impacting the behaviour of marine life.
01:01We've heard from South Australian Environment Minister Susan Close who says that the size of the bloom now expands thousands of square kilometres and has grown to the size of Kangaroo Island.
01:13Take a listen to the impacts that it's having on marine life.
01:18It is driving the sharks away from where they might normally be so they're trying to get away from it but it's also poisoning them.
01:25It is an algal bloom that is toxic for fish and so that might explain some of the different behaviour and also they appear to be in some distress and there's some talk of their being more aggressive.
01:39Beach goers first sounded the alarm about the algal bloom back in March when a thick white foam and dead marine life washed up on beaches along the Fleurieu Peninsula.
01:50Experts say they are waiting on the toxicology results from a dead shark which watched up on Henley Beach to be able to determine whether the algal bloom was its cause of death but Minister Close says that is likely the case.
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