'Heartbreaking' algal bloom hits metropolitan Adelaide beaches

Australia Broadcast Center

28-06-2025

The South Australian government says some of the algal bloom that has been plaguing the state's coastline and Coorong has now been pushed to metropolitan beaches.
Beachgoers and scientists have been discovering a wake of dead marine life washing up on Adelaide beaches, including Glenelg, Grange and Semaphore.
Marine biologist Mike Bossley has spent thousands of hours roaming the beach in his lifetime, but since Tuesday has sighted species he's never seen on the shore.
"Different kinds of rays and sharks, lots of pipefish, things called ling, which is a very unusual thing. I've never seen them washed up on the beach before, and lots of species of fish that I don't even know the names of," he said.
A marine heatwave brought on the harmful algal bloom, causing discoloured water and foam in the Fleurieu Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, Yorke Peninsula and the Coorong.
Surfers and swimmers started reporting falling ill after being in the water in March, and countless dead creatures have since washed up all over the state's coastline.
Environment Minister Susan Close confirmed the impact on metropolitan beaches was in part due to recent weather events.
"Partly because some of the bloom has been pushed towards us, but also because we've had a big storm, that some of the dead marine life that's come out of the gulf has now washed up onto our coastline," she said.
Citizen scientists have been reporting dead fish washing up closer to the city throughout the past month, from Sellicks to North Haven.
But Dr Bossley said there had been a swell in dead marine life on the shore since Tuesday's storm.
"I was appalled when I came here [to the beach] and it was just dead marine life, dead fish everywhere, and sharks, rays, all sorts of stuff," he said.
Glenelg North resident Ali Wylie is a frequent beachgoer and was concerned to see the carnage on the seashore.
"I had no idea that the algal bloom had got here, but it's so — it's just heartbreaking," she said.
"I was heartbroken at Coorong, I couldn't bear to look at the footage, and now it's here. What can we do?"
Rodney Shugg said he had also been seeing fish, small sharks and rays wash up dead at Semaphore Beach on walks with his dog since the storms last week.
He said he had attempted to return some of the still-living marine life to the water.
"Most of them were sharks, Port Jacksons; different-looking crabs that we don't normally get down here too," he said.
Mr Shugg said he had been rolling over the dead sharks and rays looking for any sign of injuries but only sees redness on their undersides.
He added he was concerned for dogs on the beach after hearing of a labrador that had become ill after eating something that had washed up.
Marine and wildlife conservation student Emily Beckmann said she had documented more than 30 species of dead creatures at Largs North and Taperoo in the last three days.
"As a passionate marine biology student, it is heartbreaking to see the animals I admire so much dead on the beach instead of thriving out in their natural environment," she said.
The state government is asking people to contact Fishwatch to report dead sea life to help scientists better understand the algal bloom and potential events in the future.
"The sooner we can get there and test the animals, the faster we'll know what's going on," Dr Close said.
Dr Bossley said the algal bloom is a reminder that climate change "is here".
"We really need to have our governments doing everything they can to deal with it."
Dr Close said more needed to be done to help ecosystems bounce back after challenges like the algal bloom.
"We need to look after nature so that she's more resilient in the face of this kind of pressure, and we need to understand the connection between this and climate change and really make sure that everyone's taking climate change seriously across the world," she said.
The state government has described the algal bloom as stubborn but, in an update on the Department for Environment and Water website, said the latest statewide observations show sea surface temperatures have continued to decrease in shallow coastal and gulf waters.
It added deeper continental shelf waters, however, continue to experience marine heatwave conditions.
In the meantime, Dr Bossley is in talks with psychologists about setting up eco-grief workshops to help people cope with the devastation they're seeing.
"You don't have to be a marine biologist to be really, really sad about what's happening," he said.
"It's just ordinary people who walk along the beach and enjoy the beach and the marine life; they're impacted just as badly."