Dead dolphins, sharks and rays: Algal bloom’s toll laid bare on SA beaches following wild weather
A monster great white shark has been taken away by Fisheries officers as more marine life – including a dead dolphin – wash ashore along the SA coast. See the incredible photos.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Storms that were initially thought to be breaking South Australia’s long-running algal bloom have instead laid bare the devastation it is causing on the state’s marine life, as hundreds of dead fish, sharks and rays wash up along the SA coastline.
The recent extreme weather has also led to an increase in the number of dead animals washing up on metropolitan beaches.
Images shared by Shark Watch SA show Port Jackson sharks, shovelnose rays and wobbegongs found dead along West Beach, Moana and O’Sullivan beaches.
A dead 3.7m female Great White was hoisted onto a trailer at Port Broughton by Fisheries officers, with one photographer getting up close to those killer teeth.
Marine biologist Dr Mike Bossley said the reports of “mass fish kills” he had been receiving were “alarming”.
“It is apparent that the bloom has now impacted almost the entire Gulf St Vincent,” he said.
Dr Bossley told The Advertiser that coastal residents he’d spoken to were distressed by the devastation they’d witnessed.
“Walking along the beach and coming across dead fish and rays and sharks and other marine life, it is very distressing to people,” he said.
A state government spokesperson said the algal bloom is a “dynamic situation” and agencies were conducting regular water and wildlife testing across the state.
“Latest observations show increased levels of chlorophyll-a – an indicator of algae concentrations but not necessarily concentrations of harmful algae – between Port Adelaide and Aldinga,” the spokesperson said.
“High levels also have been detected along the eastern and western coastlines of Spencer Gulf, Investigator Strait near North Cape on Kangaroo Island, Troubridge Point on Yorke Peninsula and along the coastline from Victor Harbor to Robe.”
Dr Bossley said that the spread of dead marine life to metropolitan beaches would drive home the seriousness of the bloom to the Adelaide populace.
“I didn’t think at the time that the people of Adelaide really appreciated that it was here, right on our beaches,” Dr Bossley said.
“Most people were thinking up until then that it’s happening down in the Fleurieu or on KI or over on Yorke Peninsula, but unfortunately we haven’t proved to be immune and it’s hit us now really hard too.”
A Department of Environment and Water algal bloom update issued on June 28 said that while sea surface temperatures have continued to decrease in shallow coastal and gulf waters, deeper continental shelf waters continue to experience marine heatwave conditions.
Shark Watch SA owner Anton Covino told The Advertiser last week that the marine life death toll could stretch “into the millions”, saying the lack of improvement to the algal bloom was “demoralising”.
“A lot of us were hoping that the winter conditions were going to stir up the bloom and disperse what’s been going on,” Mr Covino said.
“But unfortunately that’s not the case, and over the past few days a lot more public observations have been made, photographs of more marine life washing up have been popping up.”
More Coverage
Originally published as Dead dolphins, sharks and rays: Algal bloom’s toll laid bare on SA beaches following wild weather
Join the conversation
Fevola fires up in country footy melee
Retired AFL legend Brendan Fevola has got into a dust-up while playing country footy in South Australia. See the footage.
Read more
Defending the final frontier
On the frontline: South Australia is leading the way in defence across the deep dark web to the far reaches of space from Lot Fourteen
Read more