Wild weather leaves Port Kembla Beach covered in sea foam

One of the Illawarra’s most famous beaches has cut an eerie scene with the usually picturesque stretch of sand covered in sea foam.

After weeks of wild weather, beachgoers would have hoped to make the most of Wednesday’s sunny, albeit blustery, conditions.

However, those going to the iconic Port Kembla Beach were met by a spooky scene with it covered in a thick layer of sea foam.

The beach is about 6 km north of the entrance to Lake Illawarra with a strong southerly potentially causing the freak event.

Port Kembla beach today. Everything that you may think is sand, is actually foam. Eerie... pic.twitter.com/veYSxNmZF1

— Dylan Arvela (@dylanarvela) March 9, 2022

Australian Marine Conservation Society water quality expert Jaimi Webster was amazed by the footage but said testing would need to be undertaken to ensure it was safe.

“I’ve never seen one like that, it’s quite incredible,” she said.

“The colour itself isn’t that concerning, but it’s hard to come to any conclusions without testing.

“The browny colour could be from pseudo plankton and a little bit of algae. If that’s the case it wouldn’t be toxic, but it could cause some irritation around the eyes and ears and for dogs and other animals.”

Port Kembla Beach covered in sea foam. Picture: Dylan Arvela

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Ms Webster said the foam should dissipate once the weather conditions eased off, but said ongoing foaming events had the potential to severely impact sea life.

“These happen naturally and they go away naturally,” she said.

“It depends on the storm. Once it settles it is likely to go away on its own.

“If it persists for a long time, especially in a habitat where there is sea grass or coastal wetlands, it would stop sunlight getting through to the water and stop photosynthesis and that would lead to it dying off and affecting the species which feed off it.”

All 17 Wollongong Council beaches were closed on Wednesday and Thursday due to ongoing concerns about the water quality.

The sea foam has cleared by Thursday, leaving pungent silt and debris all over the usual gorgeous beach.

“Wollongong City Council’s 17 patrolled beaches remain closed today due to concerns over water quality, forecast for hazardous surf conditions, and storm debris and scarping,” a Council spokesperson said.

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“Our three salt water pools at Port Kembla, Wollongong and Thirroul also remain closed at this time.

“We continue to review the water conditions daily and Beach Watch is reporting improved water quality at most beach locations where there is not a creek opening. Areas like Sandon Point, Bulli, Woonona, Bellambi and Corrimal – where there are creek openings – are reported on Beach Watch as likely to have pollution.

“We are working through a plan to address significant scarping at a number of our southern-facing beaches, and erosion from rainwater flow at a number of our beach entrances. We will need to bring mechanical equipment onto the beaches to level out the areas of beach erosion on Bulli, Woonona, Corrimal, Towradgi, Fairy Meadow and City beaches, and we will take a risk-based approach to target the areas of most significant scarping first.

“We will continue to reassess the conditions across the week and provide updates on our beaches’ reopening through Council’s website and social media channels.”