A harmful algal bloom is having a devastating impact on marine life
For the past three months, a harmful algal bloom — 70 times the size of Sydney Harbour — has been lingering off South Australia's coastline.
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News.com.au
35 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Rod Butterss, daughter Ash open up on alcoholism battles
Former AFL club boss Rod Butterss and his daughter Ash both picked up a drink before they were teenagers, later facing devastating battles with alcoholism. But today, they share a different bond – beating addiction with each other's support. The ex-St Kilda Football Club president and his daughter, a holistic transformation coach, want to help others overcome barriers to tough conversations. The Melbourne duo have opened up about their roads to recovery for News Corp Australia's Can We Talk? campaign mental health awareness campaign, in partnership with Medibank. Ash, 37, is now five years sober and hosts a podcast to reduce the stigma of mental illness and substance abuse. 'There are hard days but I have different tools now, and I know that a drink would never be a good option,' she said. She stays 'content and at peace' by practising and teaching yoga, meditation and breathwork. But she wonders if her journey would've been different had she been able to confide in her parents as a teenager. While she and her dad have spoken candidly on her podcast, Behind the Smile, it was a different story growing up. 'I felt isolated and disconnected, and I really struggled … at 13 I was cutting myself,' she said. 'I had an eating disorder, I was drinking and taking drugs as a way to self-medicate. 'I tried to talk to my parents at the time – and this wasn't their fault – but I think that they parented from a place of fear. 'If they had the tools to have conversations and not shy away from the difficulties … things could've turned out differently.' Ash, whose first marriage fell apart, is now planning her second wedding. But she fears her future children could inherit her demons. 'It's incredible that my dad and I have broken the chain … but it's even made me wonder whether or not I want to have children,' she said. 'This disease runs in my family and the likelihood of my child suffering with mental health and potentially addiction is very high.' Addiction has cost Rod, 66, businesses, marriages, relationships, and the top job at St Kilda Football Club. But after a headline-grabbing battle with booze, cocaine and gambling, the entrepreneur became sober in 2010, with one relapse in 2020. 'We've gotta talk about these things because too many families suffer in silence,' he said. He admits he was largely absent when she was young, but watching Ash's recovery had been 'pure joy'. 'Alcoholism makes you very selfish, and there were occasions where we could have some very deep and meaningful conversations but most of the time I was self-absorbed and busy,' he said. 'As a young father I would just reel off things like 'toughen up son' … so for me it's been about learning to have intimate conversations in a non-judgmental manner, where your job as a parent is to make the other person feel safe.' In fact, Ash said if he had tried to force her to seek help before she was ready, it would have backfired. 'He's been amazing,' she said. 'Dad never pushed me, he's just always been there to champion me in a very hands-off way.' Today, Rod immerses himself in writing poetry, reading, mediation, beach walks and journaling, and is surrounded by a strong recovery community. 'I thought to myself the other day: 'You going okay Rod? You know, you're happy. Life's pretty good',' he said. Psychiatrist and former Australian of the Year Professor Patrick McGorry said research had found some people were genetically predisposed to alcohol dependence, but it was not a foregone conclusion. 'There's a lot of research showing a very strong genetic component for alcoholism and probably other forms of addiction as well,' he said. 'The actual mechanism underpinning that vulnerability is not well understood. If we knew that it would be easier to treat.' He said he would like to see the community view addiction in the same way as other mental health issues. 'With substance abuse, there's a tremendously judgmental attitude, and people say things like 'They made poor choices', or blame others for having an addiction,' he said. 'But addiction is just one type of mental health problem actually.'
ABC News
7 hours ago
- ABC News
'Heartbreaking' algal bloom hits metropolitan Adelaide beaches
The South Australian government says some of the algal bloom that has been plaguing the state's coastline and Coorong has now been pushed to metropolitan beaches. Beachgoers and scientists have been discovering a wake of dead marine life washing up on Adelaide beaches, including Glenelg, Grange and Semaphore. Marine biologist Mike Bossley has spent thousands of hours roaming the beach in his lifetime, but since Tuesday has sighted species he's never seen on the shore. "Different kinds of rays and sharks, lots of pipefish, things called ling, which is a very unusual thing. I've never seen them washed up on the beach before, and lots of species of fish that I don't even know the names of," he said. A marine heatwave brought on the harmful algal bloom, causing discoloured water and foam in the Fleurieu Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, Yorke Peninsula and the Coorong. Surfers and swimmers started reporting falling ill after being in the water in March, and countless dead creatures have since washed up all over the state's coastline. Environment Minister Susan Close confirmed the impact on metropolitan beaches was in part due to recent weather events. "Partly because some of the bloom has been pushed towards us, but also because we've had a big storm, that some of the dead marine life that's come out of the gulf has now washed up onto our coastline," she said. Citizen scientists have been reporting dead fish washing up closer to the city throughout the past month, from Sellicks to North Haven. But Dr Bossley said there had been a swell in dead marine life on the shore since Tuesday's storm. "I was appalled when I came here [to the beach] and it was just dead marine life, dead fish everywhere, and sharks, rays, all sorts of stuff," he said. Glenelg North resident Ali Wylie is a frequent beachgoer and was concerned to see the carnage on the seashore. "I had no idea that the algal bloom had got here, but it's so — it's just heartbreaking," she said. "I was heartbroken at Coorong, I couldn't bear to look at the footage, and now it's here. What can we do?" Rodney Shugg said he had also been seeing fish, small sharks and rays wash up dead at Semaphore Beach on walks with his dog since the storms last week. He said he had attempted to return some of the still-living marine life to the water. "Most of them were sharks, Port Jacksons; different-looking crabs that we don't normally get down here too," he said. Mr Shugg said he had been rolling over the dead sharks and rays looking for any sign of injuries but only sees redness on their undersides. He added he was concerned for dogs on the beach after hearing of a labrador that had become ill after eating something that had washed up. Marine and wildlife conservation student Emily Beckmann said she had documented more than 30 species of dead creatures at Largs North and Taperoo in the last three days. "As a passionate marine biology student, it is heartbreaking to see the animals I admire so much dead on the beach instead of thriving out in their natural environment," she said. The state government is asking people to contact Fishwatch to report dead sea life to help scientists better understand the algal bloom and potential events in the future. "The sooner we can get there and test the animals, the faster we'll know what's going on," Dr Close said. Dr Bossley said the algal bloom is a reminder that climate change "is here". "We really need to have our governments doing everything they can to deal with it." Dr Close said more needed to be done to help ecosystems bounce back after challenges like the algal bloom. "We need to look after nature so that she's more resilient in the face of this kind of pressure, and we need to understand the connection between this and climate change and really make sure that everyone's taking climate change seriously across the world," she said. The state government has described the algal bloom as stubborn but, in an update on the Department for Environment and Water website, said the latest statewide observations show sea surface temperatures have continued to decrease in shallow coastal and gulf waters. It added deeper continental shelf waters, however, continue to experience marine heatwave conditions. In the meantime, Dr Bossley is in talks with psychologists about setting up eco-grief workshops to help people cope with the devastation they're seeing. "You don't have to be a marine biologist to be really, really sad about what's happening," he said. "It's just ordinary people who walk along the beach and enjoy the beach and the marine life; they're impacted just as badly."
ABC News
9 hours ago
- ABC News
Mark Hughes: I'm constantly reminded how tough this disease is
The Beanies for Brain Cancer Round has become part of the NRL furniture with players, fans and commentators donning the beanies to raise money each year. The man behind it - former Knight Mark Hughes (32.37) - chatted to Andrew Moore and the team about how it continues to exceed his expectations. And while he's in good health he explained that his work with the Charity never lets him forget how hard it is to deal with the disease. Plus Michael Carayannis is along with all the latest Rugby League news - and speculation - in MC's Hammertime (44:33).
