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ABC News
2 days ago
- ABC News
Scientists release seven-point plan to tackle SA's 'catastrophic' toxic algal bloom
An independent group of marine scientists from around Australia has released a seven-point plan to tackle what it describes as South Australia's "catastrophic" toxic algal bloom. The Biodiversity Council, an independent group founded by 11 Australian universities, has outlined seven key actions that federal and state governments should consider to "urgently respond" to the bloom, known as Karenia mikimotoi. It includes spending at least $10 million to immediately kick-start scientific research to assess which species are affected by the bloom, how much, and monitor recovery. It has also warned that the algal bloom is not just a South Australian issue, and the impact will be far-reaching amid increasing marine heatwaves across the country. Biodiversity Council member, professor Gretta Pecl from the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, said the washed up marine life on beaches is just a sliver of the animals killed, with most animal bodies "rotting on the sea floor". "The exact death toll would be impossible to determine as monitoring of marine environments and species is fairly lacking in Australia, but we cannot wait to act," she said. The harmful algal bloom has been ravaging marine life throughout the state since March, disrupting fishing, aquaculture and tourism industries and threatening fragile coastal ecosystems. The state and federal governments this week pledged $28 million to assist in dealing with the bloom, but Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt stopped short of declaring it a national disaster. Professor Pecl said the funding was a "fantastic start" but much more would be needed. She said the scale of wildlife deaths is likely to be equivalent to the Black Summer Bushfires and the impact will be felt across borders. "Although the footprint of the harmful algal bloom at the moment looks like it's limited to South Australia, many of those species there have really important connections to the west coast and the east coast. "The damage that's been incurred … will massively exceed the boundaries of the bloom itself." The report said more than 450 marine species had been observed washed up across South Australian coastlines, with over 14,000 observations by citizen scientists. It also said while natural oceanographic conditions played a role, the crisis has also been driven by human activities. Professor Pecl said harmful algal blooms had also been highlighted many times before amid increased ocean warming. "The scale of each harmful algal bloom event seems to be increasing," she said. "If there isn't something done to mitigate, to reduce climate emissions, warming will continue and these kind of events will be more and more likely." The proposed actions for Australian and state governments to respond to the bloom, and Australia's broader marine heatwave are: The report was produced by a team of scientists from five Australian universities including, The University of Adelaide, The University of Tasmania, Monash University, The University of Melbourne, and The University of Western Australia. Biodiversity Council member, professor Nicki Mitchell from the University of Western Australia's Oceans Institute said Australia must prepare for a more "dangerous climate future". "Due to man-made climate change, the frequency and intensity of natural disasters that harm biodiversity, industries and communities will only increase," she said. "This includes not just harmful algal blooms, but also marine and terrestrial heatwaves, floods and bushfires." Professor Ivan Nagelkerken from the University of Adelaide Environment Institute said Adelaide's coast would always be vulnerable to algal blooms. "South Australia's gulfs are particularly vulnerable to algal blooms due to coastal nutrient inputs, warming shallow waters and poor water exchange," he said. "We must collectively do all we can to reduce coastal nutrient inputs and greenhouse gas emissions. "Locally, we can also build the resilience of ecosystems to recover by protecting and restoring marine ecosystems, like kelp forests and seagrass beds, to support bigger fish populations as well as absorb carbon and improve water quality." Mr Watt earlier this week said the federal funding pledged would likely go to cleaning up and research. "There will need to be some further discussions between ourselves and the South Australian government about exactly the details of how that funding is used," he said. "But it's intended to deal with a number of short-term requirements, and some of the longer-term needs that South Australia is going to face as it recovers from this event." He said it would also assist affected businesses, boosting "community awareness" and investing in scientific research. "This is an unprecedented event and one of the difficulties has been understanding exactly what its impacts are and what sort of response is required," he said.
ABC News
3 days ago
- ABC News
Scientist holding a donated brain
Australian scientists have found the first evidence of an unusual pattern of brain scarring only seen in people repeatedly exposed to blast waves.
ABC News
3 days ago
- ABC News
Parasitic wasp collected by Queensland students identified as new species
A parasitic wasp captured in a trap set by Queensland school students has been identified as a new species. It was recently recognised in peer-reviewed research after it was found in 2022. Since the discovery is so new, researcher Andy Howe said not much was known about the species other than how it reproduced. "They will lay their eggs in or on a host, another insect," Dr Howe, an entomologist at the University of the Sunshine Coast, said. Despite the gruesome parasitoid life cycle, Dr Howe said the creatures had delicate features. "It has lovely long antennae and cool little wings. It's very small, which is impressive in itself, but it has really fine, beautiful detailed structure on its back and cool big eyes," Dr Howe said. But outside of that, he said it was not clear how widespread the wasps were. "We know nothing, or very little, about how abundant they are … that would depend on their host, and the type of habitat that they use." The students who discovered the species at Gin Gin, west of Bundaberg, described the wasp as "creepy" but "very cool". Gin Gin was one of 50 schools in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia involved in a citizen science program in 2022, capturing hundreds of insects. The students used Malaise traps, which are tent-like structures made of netting. Specimens were sent to the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics in Canada for DNA barcoding. It was there, the parasitoid species was identified, and the Gin Gin school community chose its name, Cotesia ginginensis. The findings have now been published in the peer-reviewed Zootaxa Journal. Karyn Goodman, head of science at Gin Gin State High School, said it had been an anxious but exciting wait for news. "The kids and the staff are just so excited that we've gone through the long process, and finally we have an outcome, and we're forever going to be in the history books," she said. Ms Goodman said the project had strengthened the students' understanding of science and respect for the land. "Making that connection for them that what they do now, what they get involved in, what they contribute to, does have that ripple effect out there in the world." Past student at Gin Gin State High School, Caitlin Caunt, said the group had not expected to find anything new. "It's very cool. We didn't really believe at first and [finding out] it was published was like, 'Wow, that actually happened,'" she said. Ms Caunt said the project gave the students some valuable life lessons. "We learnt that even though we think that we've discovered everything, we've always got to keep looking, because there's always something that we haven't found," she said. Dr Howe said it was the ideal outcome. "We thought that they would [but] we didn't make any promises," he said. "There are 220,000-plus species of insects in Australia, and like 30 to 33 per cent of them have been described, so they have a formal scientific name. "So that means that the chance of finding one of those [undescribed species] is fairly high, and thankfully, we did."
