2000 sq mi algae bloom devastates South Australia coast
A near apocalyptic toxic algal bloom has been killing mass quantities of marine life on South Australia’s west coast for six months, with no end in sight even as summer in the southern hemisphere ends. Scientists say that there is little hope of abatement without a change of the conditions that have continued the incursion for six months. The stinky onslaught, lethal for a wide range of marine life, has fouled miles of metropolitan beaches with daily patrols cleaning the carcasses of dead fish and rays.
Researchers say the bloom is caused by an ongoing marine heatwave, a phenomenon likely to become more common with global heating. An additional contributing factor was catastrophic 2023 flooding from the Murray-Darling Basin which carried massive amounts of that agricultural nutrients that the Karenia mikimotoi organisms.
“We don’t see it stopping anytime soon.” coordinator of parks and biodiversity, Tyron Bennett.
35,000 dead marine animals
Mortality hotspots include broad swathes from Grange to West Beach, as crews routinely collect 100 – 450 lbs of dead fish and other organisms daily.
Hundreds of species are dying on a daily basis as volunteers clean up beaches
Sharks, rays, fish, crustaceans, octopuses, leafy sea dragons, and polychaete worms are among the animals fouling the beaches as the algae deprives them of oxygen. Karenia mikimotoi damages marine life by destroying gill structures, suffocating creatures, attacking red blood cells, and inducing neurological harm.
-
Scientists describe it as one of the worst marine die-offs in decades, particularly impacting ecologically and economically vital zones like the Coorong wetland and also surfing and swimming beaches.