Fisherman's alarming sighting in popular marina as crisis worsens: 'Never seen it before'
An unexpected visitor to a popular marina in South Australia has created a stir, with local fishermen saying they've never seen anything like it. A juvenile great white was spotted cruising the shallows of Wirrina Cove, leading some to wonder if the state's algal bloom crisis is behind the predator's behaviour.
Jarrod Glaister, owner and skipper of Southern Fishing Charters, told Yahoo News he initially thought the animal was a dolphin and was shocked to see a great white in the marina.
'I've never seen it before,' he said.
While doing maintenance on his boat Jarrod spotted the shark alongside the vessel, and could still see it swimming around hours later.
"He's still kicking around, he's stuck in the marina," Jarrod said. "He's just swimming around."
While the shark had attracted the attention of a couple of onlookers, Jarrod predicted it wouldn't be long before word spread and more people came to the marina for a look.
The toxic algal bloom is suffocating marine life off the South Australian coast, killing more than 200 aquatic species, including protected sea dragons and sharks. A mob of kangaroos were also euthanised after eating toxic grass near the algal bloom.
In April, a great white shark was rescued from a sandbar near Tiddy Widdy Beach, while in May another great white couldn't be saved after washing up at Henley Beach.
The Fleurieu Peninsula, which includes Wirrina Cove, has been largely impacted by the algae explosion.
Professor Culum Brown, behavioural ecologist at Macquarie University, said the region has a healthy shark population and it's not uncommon for juvenile white sharks to be spotted close to shore.
"I have no doubt white sharks swim by marinas from time to time. There is no reason why they wouldn't be there," Prof Brown told Yahoo News.
He added the shark looked "disorientated", and couldn't rule out the algae bloom as the cause.
"That whole area is having an issue with raised water temps and high plankton counts so it might be related, but who can really say," he said.
"Algal blooms are problematic for two main reasons: 1) they can be toxic in their own right, and 2) they can starve the water of oxygen.
"If you combine that with high water temperatures, where O2 levels are already lower, then you have a problem."
Experts have described the scenes, which began in early March, as a "horror movie for fish". With barely any rain or wind forecast across the region over the next week, the algae bloom is only expected to worsen.
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