A mysterious, brown foam appeared on a beach an hour south of Adelaide. It was just the beginning of a toxic algal bloom that has now grown to thousands of square kilometres in size, killing precious sea life in its wake. Experts say it could be a sign of things to come.
The blame was placed on an “ongoing marine heatwave” which had seen water temperatures 2.5 degrees Celsius warmer than usual.
On Kangaroo Island, which reported its first fish kills in March, some beaches were so littered with dead sea life, the smell was overpowering.
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I’m guessing that these are not 100% autotrophic, so they bloom after the green algae bloom and eat from the waste nutrients, using up the oxygen in the water.
There’s a storm on the way that will hopefully affect growing conditions, and disperse the bloom, giving the local sea life an opportunity to bounce back
