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ABC News
4 days ago
- Science
- ABC News
Search on for how and where SA's algal bloom started, and where it's going
As South Australia's algal bloom creeps along the state's coasts, scientists are trying to find out what caused it, where it started and where it is heading next. The current bloom was first reported on beaches on the southern tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula in March before spreading across the Gulf of St Vincent. The federal and state governments have committed a combined $28 million to tackle the issue, some of which will be spent on research. University of Technology Sydney harmful algae bloom expert Professor Shauna Murray said the impact of the bloom was unprecedented in Australia. Professor Murray said while it was important to understand the chain of events that led to the bloom, more important was understanding how it could be quickly detected "so we can be prepared to respond to it", she said. "If it occurs then we know what to expect, we know what areas it might affect, we might understand a bit better how it will affect those areas." Though the first reports linked to the bloom were on Waitpinga Beach, estuarine ecologist Faith Coleman thinks fish kills further south and east could have been connected. "Areas like Portland in Victoria, and looking at the Eight Mile Creek [south of Mount Gambier], those places have had over the last couple of years [seen] a series of smaller blooms, best we can tell," Ms Coleman said. "Although they weren't investigated at the time, each one of those periods of large fish kills have tied into an extreme event relating to a large amount of seagrass death and seaweed death, and either exceptionally cold or hot waters. "We suspect that this particular bloom started somewhere near Robe." While it was not yet clear exactly where the bloom started, Flinders University Associate Professor Jochen Kaempf is trying to predict where it is going. He has developed a computer model to predict how the bloom could be developing. "It very likely becomes weaker and might disappear, or looks like disappearing," Dr Kaempf said. "The big question is whether it will turn up again when it gets warmer in the next summer months. "Will it maybe appear in the Spencer Gulf? [That] is way more concerning in terms of its ecological significance. "We have the sardine stock, the prawns, the cuttlefish. That's a big concern." The state government has said a marine heatwave, nutrients washing into the sea from the 2022-'23 River Murray flood, and an "unprecedented" cold-water upwelling in the summer of 2023-'24 are plausible contributing factors to the bloom. Dr Kaempf discovered the Great Southern Australian Coastal Upwelling System and has been studying it for more than two decades. The event attracts a range of marine life, including dolphins and whales. Dr Kaempf said there would not be a relationship between the 2023-'24 upwelling and the current bloom as blooms develop over the course of one to two months. "It's just too long ago and not linked to the bloom that we're seeing now," he said. Ms Coleman said the impacts of the upwelling on the algal bloom are likely to be insignificant compared to the marine heatwave. "What happened is what always happens — which is that it blows a little bit of extra nutrients that it's accumulated over time up into the main water column," she said. "Those were immediately taken up by a diatom bloom that you could see from space." Ms Coleman said the government likely has not had time to rule out the upwelling or flood as contributing factors. "Even SARDI and PIRSA reports say quite clearly the primary cause is climate change," she said. South Australia's Department for Primary Industries and Regions was contacted for comment.
The Guardian
19-07-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
SA's toxic algal bloom is twice the size of the ACT, has killed 12,000 animals and is filling even the experts with dread
Anthony Rowland was heading out for a pre-dawn surf at Waitpinga Point when he felt a tickle in his throat. He was out on the pristine water as the sun rose on South Australia's Fleurieu Peninsula, then headed back up the hill towards the car park with his friends. 'Halfway up, all three of us were barking,' he says. When they reached the car park, it was full of people coughing. 'That was the second I realised something really bad was going on,' he says. It was Saturday, 15 March. When he went back the next day, a sickly yellow-brown foam had been whipped up along the shoreline. Dead leafy seadragons and fish carcasses littered the shore. Rowland – a surfer from nearby Victor Harbor who can now be described as a citizen scientist – tried to alert authorities, without success. Then the media began reporting about the mysterious foam, and asking questions about its links to symptoms in humans and death among sealife. It was the first time the wider population had heard of the devastating, toxic algal bloom that has left SA beaches littered with the carcasses of fish and marine animals – but it had already been brewing away beneath the waves for some time. Estuarine ecologist Faith Coleman thinks it was killing fish as early as January. About a week after Rowland started to tell anyone who'd listen about what was happening at Waitpinga, authorities confirmed the main algal species was Karenia mikimotoi, a type of plankton that had grown out of control. Experts say other algae that produce toxins are likely to be in the bloom as well. The toxins affect the gills of fish, while the bloom sucks the oxygen out of the water as it dies and decomposes, effectively suffocating marine life. It appears in the water and on the sand as a dirty stain, and in the air as an irritant to eyes and lungs. According to records, it has killed over 12,000 animals from almost 400 species so far, but experts predict the figure is much higher. There are dead fiddler rays, worm eels, Port Jackson sharks, crabs and puffer fish. There are starfish and scallops, sea cucumbers, wobbegongs and flatheads. A persistent marine heatwave affects the waters off South Australia, kicked off with sea surface temperatures reaching 2.5C above average. A mysterious sea foam appears at beaches on the Fleurieu Peninsula, with reports of more than 100 surfers becoming ill, and deaths of leafy sea dragons, fish and octopi. Marine biologists from the University of Technology Sydney find high numbers of a tiny harmful algal species called Karenia mikimotoi in water samples collected from affected beaches. Prof Shauna Murray – who identified the algae under the microscope and by analysing its DNA – says while still not well understood, K mikimotoi is thought to produce a reactive oxygen that caused gill cell damage in fish – which means they can not breathe. By this point, more than 200 marine species have been killed by the bloom, which stretches along more than 150 kilometres worth of coastline. A powerful storm and high tides washes the algae into the Coorong, staining the water like strong tea before turning it into a slurry. Water testing confirms the presence of the algae in the Coorong. Abnormally high tides, strong winds and large waves lashes the South Australian coastline, with multiple reports of fish deaths along the Adelaide metropolitan coastline reported in the aftermath. Testing confirms the toxic algae had entered West Lakes. While the algae has been detected at the inlet, it had not yet been detected at three other testing sites. It's not toxic to humans or other mammals but can cause averse reactions such as coughing, throat irritation and eye inflammation. According to state government experts, there are several 'plausible' factors that triggered the deadly algae bloom. In 2022, deadly floods hit the eastern states. That water flowed through the Murray-Darling Basin, collecting organic matter on its way. Eventually, the nutrient-rich water made its way to SA's River Murray before oozing out into the ocean. The next summer, there was an 'upwelling' of that water, bringing it to the surface. And then a marine heatwave began in September 2024. Sea temperatures rose to about 2.5C above normal. It was hot, dry and calm. And the bloom grew. It spread from the Fleurieu Peninsula, to Kangaroo Island, Yorke Peninsula, Gulf St Vincent and the Spencer Gulf. It grew to 4,500 sq kms – almost double the size of the ACT – and as deep as 20m. In June it infiltrated the Coorong, a delicately balanced ecosystem and Ramsar-listed wetlands, and in early July it made its way to metropolitan beaches and into the Port River, which is home to a dolphin sanctuary. The bloom killed invertebrates and organisms that anchor seagrasses, leaving beaches near Adelaide strewn with clumps of seaweed. Nestled in those clumps are dead animals in states of decay. Beachgoers can be seen walking between carcasses, frantically calling their dogs away from the rotting fish. It has forced oyster and mussel farms to close, and has caused huge complications for the marine tourism industry. 'People have seen what's washed up on the shoreline, but that's just the tip of the iceberg,' marine biologist and underwater cinematographer Stefan Andrews says. Andrews is the co-founder of the Great Southern Reef Foundation (GSRF), which has been tracking the bloom. 'All of the habitats that these marine creatures depend on are deteriorating,' he says. 'But it's happening underwater and it's going unnoticed.' Footage from his dives contrast colourful, vibrant underwater scenes from before the bloom with murky after-shots that look almost apocalyptic. And there's 'weird' stuff going on, Andrews says. Critters you'd normally see at night appearing during the day. Abalone sitting upside down. A brittle star – related to the starfish, but with long, spindly arms – has its middle missing, like a doughnut. 'It seems to be rotting away from the inside.' When he looked under the kelp canopy while diving off Kangaroo Island, the invertebrates, the sponges, the sea squirts, were 'all dead or dying and falling apart'. As is always the case in the modern world, conspiracy theories have sprung up around the bloom. Some say Chinese warships caused it, others blame the desalination plant, some blame cloud seeding. Estuarine ecologist Faith Coleman says people are desperate for answers. 'I'm spending an awful lot of time doing something I hate to do, which is myth busting, whereas I'd prefer to be concentrating on solving the problem,' she says. She also says the contribution of the Murray floods and the upwelling were minor contributors. Overwhelmingly, she says, it was the marine heatwave. The government and experts concede there are many unanswered questions – including when it will end. The state government says nothing can be done naturally to dilute or dissipate the bloom. That won't quell the rising calls for action. The GSRF wrote to the federal government in 2023, warning of the likely impact of marine heatwaves. It wrote again in May this year, calling for a $40m, 10-year investment in a monitoring program. It didn't hear back. 'We need a coordinated monitoring program,' Andrews says. 'So when events like marine heatwaves happen, we're able to learn from them as they're unfolding and gather valuable data.' Federally, the Greens are calling for an inquiry and for it to be declared a national disaster, 'just like a bushfire or a weather bomb', SA senator Sarah Hanson-Young says. The Greens senator adds that if it was happening anywhere else in the country, the federal government would be on it. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The state government says it's working with commercial fishers, tourism operators and councils, and set up a reference group to report to a taskforce to discuss any updates. A patrol vessel and remotely operated vehicles have been sent to conduct underwater observations. It's also asking the federal government to fund more research and recovery measures. On Wednesday the federal environment minister, Murray Watt, sent his department's head of international environment, reef and ocean division to SA to ensure he has 'the best possible advice on the situation'. Coleman, to whom everyone seems to defer as a top expert on the bloom and who previously worked on projects including dealing with the carp in the Murray, recently captured plenty of attention talking about the 'sea sparkle'. It's different algae that can eat the Karenia – an appealing concept. But there's not enough of the luminescent algae to make a significant difference. The colder water and storms might be dispersing the bloom a bit, Coleman says, but more is needed to flush the gulfs or there'll be another bloom this summer. Restoring things such as the seagrasses and kelp forests, which work to suppress fledgling blooms and act as carbon sinks, would help, she says. What most people agree on is that more data and more transparency is needed, and that climate change is the driving force that needs to be stopped. Rowland, four and a half months after he started coughing in the car park, has become a citizen scientist embedded in a network of volunteers who are monitoring and logging the fish deaths on the iNaturalist app. 'Because the world's heating up,' he says. 'I just don't feel confident that once it's gone, it's gone. 'For me, the writing's on the wall.'
ABC News
07-07-2025
- Climate
- ABC News
Calls for South Australia's algal bloom to be declared national disaster, as 'algal war' erupts
An ecologist says an "algal war" that has broken out along South Australia's south coast could be a sign that the tide is slowly turning against the state's toxic bloom, which the Greens want treated as a national disaster. Fishers have reported seeing what is believed to be a bioluminescent algae that is known to eat the Karenia mikimotoi algae species responsible for the mass fish kills over the past four months. The Greens have called on the federal government to declare the bloom a national disaster because of its impact on coastal communities and businesses. "The last calamari I caught was on Good Friday … and it's been a long time since," Fleurieu Peninsula squid fisherman Nathan Eatts told ABC Radio Adelaide. But Mr Eatts is hopeful nature itself can be part of the solution, especially in light of what he saw while fishing on Sunday morning. He said he was out on the water when he noticed it had changed colour. "I followed it around for a bit. It was about a kilometre-and-a-half long by 30 metres wide. "Early reports coming back off that, is that it's a 'sea sparkle' — a bioluminescent algae of sorts. "Apparently that might potentially be eating the Karenia, the bad stuff." Mr Eatts said he contacted authorities and carefully collected samples for citizen scientists. Estuarine ecologist Faith Coleman said she had examined images of the samples and identified them as containing Noctiluca scintillans — the algae which causes "sea sparkle". "We're starting to get sea sparkle blooms which are those algae that cause the phosphorescent blue waves at certain times of year," she said. "What they do is they go round, they eat other bacteria and algae, and in this case it looks like they're probably eating Karenia mikimotoi. "The sea sparkle … cleans up already dying blooms and it cleans them down to a point that they don't re-bloom again if they get the opportunity to. "We're nowhere near that yet." While Ms Coleman said it was "definitely way too early to say" the sea sparkle would spell the end of the toxic bloom, it was still a promising sign. "Nature is assembling her soldiers on the ground and the sea sparkle is a major part of that. "That's what it's trying to do — whether it succeeds of course is a different matter entirely." South Australian Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the party, at both the state and federal level, is calling for inquiries into the 'environmental catastrophe'. Senator Hanson-Young said she had written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese seeking an urgent national response. "We've urged the prime minister to declare this event a national disaster along the lines of what happens for floods and fires," Senator Hanson-Young said. "Our communities are hurting, our industries are suffering and so far, the only government response is to get used to it." Greens MLC Robert Simms said he m would move to launch a state-based enquiry into the bloom when parliament returns in late August. "That's so that we can bring in the state government departments and scrutinise their approach to this crisis," Mr Simms said. The prime minister's office has been contacted for a response. Diver Mark Tozer has been visiting the shipwreck of The Claris, a popular scuba site around eight kilometres off Glenelg Beach, for the past 30 years. He said the site was normally teeming with marine life and coral and was devastated when he visited the site last week. "On the way down it was green and was full of algae just floating through the water column and by the time you got to the bottom you could hardly see your hand, it was nasty," he said. "Littered all over the floor were dead sea cucumbers, there was clams and molluscs just open, dead, gone … it was a death zone." Mr Tozer said he was surprised to see the far-reaching extent of the bloom and felt concern for the future of the diving industry and local bait and tackle shops. "The government needs to step in and understand these poor people who own a business … this is out of their hands," he said. "Who would want to buy a boat in South Australia now?"
The Guardian
14-06-2025
- Climate
- The Guardian
Deadly algal bloom in South Australia's Coorong an environmental ‘eye opener', ecologist says
When South Australia's algal bloom arrived in the Coorong, it stained the water like strong tea before turning it into a slurry of dead worms. Many had hoped the storm in late May would break up the bloom of Karenia mikimotoi algae, which has killed more than 200 different marine species. Instead, high tides swept the algae into the Coorong, an internationally significant Ramsar wetland at the mouth of the Murray River. Once there, the algae began 'reproducing madly' in the nutrient rich waters of the North Lagoon, according to estuarine ecologist Faith Coleman. Among the dead were mostly benthic species – estuarine snails, shore crabs, baby flounder and 'a thick stew of dead polychaete worms' – a crucial food source for shorebirds and fish. Levels had declined from their peak but the smell of rotting fish remained, along with algal spores buried in the sediment. 'As soon as it warms up again, the likelihood is [the algal bloom will] be back,' Coleman said. The marine heatwave, a contributing factor to the bloom, persisted off the coast of SA, according to an 11 June update, which showed increases in chlorophyll – an indicator of algae concentrations – along the Coorong coast and western Gulf Saint Vincent. Fourth generation fisherman Gary Hera-Singh was one of the first to notice the lagoon's colour turn a 'dark, orangey-brown'. 'We had a big storm event, a lot of seawater got pushed around, and this algal bloom found its way into the Coorong and has just created havoc since,' he said, and there were still 'massive patches – 100 acres at a time' where the bloom was flourishing. Hera-Singh has witnessed the health of the Coorong decline in his lifetime, but said in 41 years of fishing the impact of the algal bloom was the worst event he had seen. The Coorong, a 120km narrow band of water separated by sand dunes from the Southern Ocean, together with lakes Alexandrina and Albert, is considered a wetland of international significance, providing critical habitat for fish, water birds and many threatened species. The North Lagoon – the area affected – is an important nursery for fish such as mulloway and bream. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Prof Peter Gell, an expert in Ramsar listed wetlands, said the wetlands had degraded over a long period of time, with barrages (structures that control water flow) added in the 1950s, higher nutrient loads and extended periods of reduced flow from the Murray. Algal blooms were symptoms of broader changes, he said. 'Because of this we're seeing – both offshore and within the Coorong – substantial changes in the food web.' As a wetland of international significance, the Australian government was obliged to report environmental changes to the Coorong under the Ramsar convention, Gell said, a process that usually triggered restoration efforts. Federal and state governments were liaising about the situation, including any long-term impacts likely to affect the ecological character of the Coorong, a federal environment department spokesperson said. 'We understand that, given the dynamics of the North Lagoon, it is difficult to dissipate the bloom and it might remain for some time.' Fresh water may help the situation, Coleman said, given the algae thrived at salinity levels of 18-37 grams per litre. Restoration efforts would help build the resilience of the Coorong and marine areas, she said. The system was already under pressure, said Dr Nick Whiterod, an ecologist and science program manager at the Coorong Lower Lakes Murray Mouth Research Centre. But the recent drought and unusual algal blooms had been 'eye openers' to many people, he said. Last year, a tropical species of blue-green algal bloomed in Lake Alexandrina for the first time, and had persisted, Whiterod said. Now that karenia mikimotoi had got into the Coorong, there was concern it too would bloom again. The Coorong was vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, like sea level rise and reduced river flows, he said. 'Ocean temperatures are heating up. It's creating conditions that are conducive to algal blooms all around the world,' he said. 'Our ecosystems are really stressed, we are getting to a period of time where some may not have the capacity to recover.'
ABC News
03-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Marine algal bloom spreads to SA's Coorong as fishers find dead creatures in North Lagoon
Algae from a bloom that has killed marine life throughout South Australian seas over the past few months has been detected in the fragile saline environment of the Coorong. The Karenia mikimotoi-dominated algae mix is believed to have entered the North Lagoon via the mouth of the River Murray during last week's stormy weather and high tides. It has killed thousands of polychaete worms, as well as crabs and small fish, with fishers concerned for the environment and commercial fishery that depends on its health. The Coorong is a Ramsar-listed wetland known for its global importance as a breeding site for pelicans and migratory birds. Estuarine ecologist Faith Coleman, who has spent much of the past few months helping coastal communities understand the algal bloom, said she was "devastated" when she realised the algae was in her beloved Coorong. The sample Ms Coleman examined was brought to her by commercial fishers Tracy and Glen Hill. While fishing in the southernmost part of the North Lagoon late last week, Mr Hill noticed the water had a strange reddish-pink colour, and in places was full of dead or dying creatures. "There were huge numbers of polychaete worms, all different sizes, types," Mr Hill said. While Mr Hill was familiar with fish kill events happening in the more saline South Lagoon after stormy weather, he thought of the North Lagoon as a "refuge zone". "I spent a fair bit of time crying over what I was seeing." Fellow commercial fisher Gary Hera-Singh also noticed the change in the water. "It's not a bloom I've ever seen before … it gives off this very pungent odour," Mr Hera-Singh said. Mr Hera-Singh described the water as "nearly black" on the side of the lagoon next to the dunes that separate it from the ocean. Like Mr Hill, Mr Hera-Singh was shaken by the sheer number of dead worms. He believed the full extent of the aquatic deaths would not be known until more material at the bottom of the lagoon washed ashore on windy days. He said other fishers had told him the bloom now extended as far north as Long Point and was affecting around half of the North Lagoon. He said commercial catches in the affected areas were "non-existent", and he had grave concerns for the future of the fishery and thousands of birds that lived in or visited the Coorong. Ms Coleman said the algae was already showing signs it could become established in the lagoon environment. While samples of the algae collected from the sea were shown to be reproducing via cell division, she said the algae in the Coorong was reacting in a different way. "In the Coorong, there is so much food, and the salinity is so good, that we're seeing sexual reproduction occur," Ms Coleman said. Ms Coleman said that reproduction often led to more persistent blooms, and where the algae had penetrated lagoon areas overseas, blooms had even become annual events. Mr Hera-Singh said much more extensive research was needed. "This bloom has come in with a massive thump," he said. "I'm still waiting to collect enough evidence to say whether we've got a future [as fishers] or not. The South Australian Primary Industries and Regions Department (PIRSA) said it was investigating reports of a bony bream fish kill in the Woods Well Bay area and a polychaete fish kill at the Long Point area of the Coorong. "Samples [including water samples] have been collected for both locations with results still pending," a spokesperson said. "PIRSA would like to remind the public of the advice from SA Health for people to avoid collecting or eating any fish or marine organism found washed up and either dying or dead."
