Latest news with #algalbloom
ABC News
19 minutes ago
- Science
- ABC News
Race to understand Giant Australian cuttlefish behaviour as algal bloom looms
Thousands of people visit Whyalla every year in winter to see congregating giant Australian cuttlefish near the shore for their breeding season. But that may be under threat as scientists weigh-up whether to relocate cuttlefish hatchlings before South Australia's toxic algal bloom reaches their fertile grounds. The Biodiversity Council of Australia held an emergency meeting on Wednesday with state government officials discussing how to safeguard giant Australian cuttlefish eggs in the Upper Spencer Gulf. UniSA marine ecologist Zoe Doubleday attended the meeting and said the council had resolved to fill data gaps before taking a course of action. "You'd be taking eggs from a currently healthy population so you don't want to do that unless you really have to," Dr Doubleday said. "And removing eggs, they might just be gobbled up by predators after a while, so there's a few things we're balancing. We're doing some assessment to see what's viable." Dr Doubleday acknowledged the process was time sensitive but it was unclear how much of the algae would reach breeding areas, nor how much harm could be done. "The eggs are in a good place to collect now if we were to do that, or in the next few weeks," she said. Biodiversity Council spokesperson Jaana Dielenberg said the cuttlefish were "a point of pride for the people of Whyalla" and an international tourism drawcard. "Our greatest hope is that the harmful algal bloom, which is devastating marine wildlife, will dissipate soon," she said. "But until it does conservation managers need to rapidly prepare for the worst. "This cuttlefish population and its extraordinary behaviour are one of the world's natural wonders, like the great monarch butterfly migrations. "We should do everything we can to ensure it survives." Flinders University cuttlefish researcher Bethany Jackel, who was not at the meeting, said giant Australian cuttlefish numbers were strong this season. "The cuttlefish this season do seem to have dodged a bullet. They seem to have done what they need to do," Ms Jackel said. "What we don't really know is what impact that algae may have on the eggs that will now be developing all the way through until November, December, and what effects that algae might have on the food source of the hatchlings." Whyalla Dive Shop owner Manny Katz, who is also director of Eyre Lab, a not-for-profit which promotes awareness of restoration ecology, approved of moving the eggs. "Then we can hold on to those genetics for redeployment in the future," he said. Due to their relatively short life span of 12 to 18 months, Mr Katz said it could take several generations of captive cuttlefish before conditions were optimal for their release back into the wild. "If you were to release hatchlings back into the wild with no food source you'd just be setting them up for failure," he said. Cutty's Boat Tours owner Matt Waller, one of several tourism operators who rely on the cuttlefish aggregation, said there were still unknowns. "The question we can never really answer is [why are] the cuttlefish returning to this site every year? Is that a high level of genetic evolutionary disposition? Or it's something they just re-find?" he said. Mr Katz said more research was being conducted into the species' migration patterns. But it was unclear was whether a prolonged period of captivity would impact their "internal compass" and ability to travel to the breeding grounds outside of Point Lowley.
ABC News
2 days ago
- Climate
- ABC News
SA Algal Bloom
Despite rain and cooler weather, an algal bloom off the coast of Adelaide is continuing to affect ocean life and the people who love it or rely on it for a living. Justina finds out more about this natural disaster and why it has a lot of people worried. Do you have any questions about algal blooms? Well send them in, and Justina will answer as many as possible.
ABC News
3 days ago
- Health
- ABC News
As South Australia deals with its algal bloom, California is dealing with another
A dead sea lion is discovered on one end of the coast, and not far away an entire pod of long-beaked common dolphins lay stranded. It is becoming a familiar scene for those living along the coast of Southern California. And much like in South Australia, where thousands of dead sea creatures have washed ashore since March, a harmful algal bloom is to blame. Warning: This story contains content that some readers may find distressing. In California, this is the fourth consecutive year of death and destruction along the coastline. There have been scores of marine mammals and sea birds injured and killed, with US rescuers dealing with "by far historically the largest mass stranding event" relating to algal blooms. In South Australia, the Karenia mikimotoi bloom, kills fish and other sea creatures by impacting their gills, causing them to drown. In the US, authorities have been dealing with different types of algae, including one that produces domoic acid which can cause mammals like sea lions to experience seizures, behave aggressively or die. The Pacific Marine Mammal Center (PMMC) said the harmful algal bloom on the Southern California coast had significantly impacted sea lion and common dolphin populations and had killed two humpback whales and a minke whale. "In 2025, we've experienced the worst domoic acid algae bloom that we've ever experienced in Southern California history," Alissa Deming, PMMC vice president of Conservation, Medicine and Science told ABC News. Dr Deming said the PMMC hospital had taken in hundreds of sick mammals, which had been "physically demanding and very emotionally taxing" on staff and volunteers trying to help while protecting the public from aggressive animals. "A number of the sea lions were also pregnant, and that resulted in reproductive losses of over 85 fetuses born and lost in our hospital as a result of this bloom," she said. The veterinarian said there were likely similar drivers for its bloom to the one happening in South Australia including increasing marine temperatures and more nutrients from cold water upwelling. "By combining the warm sea surface temperatures with increased nutrients, that has resulted in us having a bloom event every year since 2022, with them seemingly becoming larger, longer lasting and covering a lot larger geographic region," Dr Deming said. Investigations are underway if the destructive Los Angeles wildfires in January and the associated run-off have contributed to the bloom. The US National Office for Harmful Algal Blooms said a conservative estimated cost of harmful algal blooms for the the US was about $50 million, but experts say expenses are hard to quantify. A 2024 study estimated losses to tourism-related businesses during the 2018 Florida red tide bloom at $US2.7 billion. Dr Deming said the US government agencies continued to have monitoring and management practices in place to support the commercial seafood industry. "Being able to have good federal and state agencies that can do surveillance to test to ensure seafood is safe for the public, as well as trying to come up with preventative measures or best management practices to prevent blooms, … are really high priority items," she said. "We're happy we have some of those systems in place, but there's absolutely room for improvement I think all around the world to help prevent the conditions that support these really long lasting and devastating blooms." Other algal blooms have also wreaked havoc in other parts of the world. An algae surge choked to death an estimated 40,000 tonnes of salmon in Chile in 2016 while hundreds of elephant deaths in Botswana in 2020 were linked to cyanobacteria, often called blue-green algae in Australia. The scale of each harmful algal bloom event seems to be increasing, professor Gretta Pecl from the University of Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies told the ABC. "If there isn't something done to mitigate, to reduce climate emissions, warming will continue and these kinds of events will be more and more likely," she said. US research biologist at NOAA Fisheries Kathi Lefebvre, who has been studying harmful algal blooms for 25 years, said the blooms were getting worse and reaching areas "where we used to not have problems". "It is turning out to be a major impact of climate change." Authorities in South Australia have linked South Australia's algal bloom to climate change, and state and federal governments have pledged a collective $28 million for a suite of measures to tackle the algal bloom, including more funding for testing. Dr Lefebvre said authorities needed to take action now to mitigate the effects of future blooms. "What's going to happen if these blooms are going to be continuing is that there's going to need to be ways to test for toxins … to protect human health," Dr Lefebvre said. "The more information we have, the better decisions we can make.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
It's a hot summer and that means blue-green algae is back, GRCA warns
The hot weather this summer means blue-green algae is starting to bloom in local waterways, the Grand River Conservation Authority says. So far this summer, blue-green algae has been seen near the west side of Shand Dam at Belwood Lake reservoir. In the past, the algae has also shown up in Conestogo Lake, Guelph Lake and Woolwich reservoirs, as well as at Snyder's Flats. When an algal bloom starts to grow, "a noticeable green or brown scum will form on the surface of water bodies and the water look like green or bluish-green pea soup," the conservation authority says. "Once blue-green algae are in full bloom, it may look like spilled 'paint' along the shoreline. A new blue-green algal bloom often smells like fresh cut grass, while an older bloom can smell like rotting garbage." The algae grows thanks in part to nutrients from fields and lawns that end up in local waterways and reservoirs when it rains, the authority says. People are reminded not to touch the algae as it can be harmful to people and pets. As well as avoiding any contact with the blue-green algae, people shouldn't use water from a reservoir where the algae is found and should not eat fish from the water, either. Assume it contains toxins: health unit Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health notes on its website that blue-green algae, also called cyanobacteria, usually shows up in late summer or early fall and higher water temperatures help it grow. "There's no way to tell by looking at a bloom whether it contains toxins or not. As a precaution, regard any blue-green algal bloom as potentially toxic," the health unit says. People who do come in contact with blue-green algae may experience itchy or irritated eyes and skin, headaches, fever, diarrhea, stomach pain and nausea. If large amounts are ingested, there can be more serious effects such as liver damage. The health unit also notes infants and children under the age of six are most at risk of developing health problems if exposed to the algae. If someone does come into contact with blue-green algae, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health says they should rinse off immediately with clean water and watch for symptoms. If symptoms show up, speak to a health-care provider. People who spot blue-green algae where there are no posted signs are asked to report it to the Grand River Conservation Authority and or the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks spill action centre.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
It's a hot summer and that means blue-green algae is back, GRCA warns
The hot weather this summer means blue-green algae is starting to bloom in local waterways, the Grand River Conservation Authority says. So far this summer, blue-green algae has been seen near the west side of Shand Dam at Belwood Lake reservoir. In the past, the algae has also shown up in Conestogo Lake, Guelph Lake and Woolwich reservoirs, as well as at Snyder's Flats. When an algal bloom starts to grow, "a noticeable green or brown scum will form on the surface of water bodies and the water look like green or bluish-green pea soup," the conservation authority says. "Once blue-green algae are in full bloom, it may look like spilled 'paint' along the shoreline. A new blue-green algal bloom often smells like fresh cut grass, while an older bloom can smell like rotting garbage." The algae grows thanks in part to nutrients from fields and lawns that end up in local waterways and reservoirs when it rains, the authority says. People are reminded not to touch the algae as it can be harmful to people and pets. As well as avoiding any contact with the blue-green algae, people shouldn't use water from a reservoir where the algae is found and should not eat fish from the water, either. Assume it contains toxins: health unit Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health notes on its website that blue-green algae, also called cyanobacteria, usually shows up in late summer or early fall and higher water temperatures help it grow. "There's no way to tell by looking at a bloom whether it contains toxins or not. As a precaution, regard any blue-green algal bloom as potentially toxic," the health unit says. People who do come in contact with blue-green algae may experience itchy or irritated eyes and skin, headaches, fever, diarrhea, stomach pain and nausea. If large amounts are ingested, there can be more serious effects such as liver damage. The health unit also notes infants and children under the age of six are most at risk of developing health problems if exposed to the algae. If someone does come into contact with blue-green algae, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health says they should rinse off immediately with clean water and watch for symptoms. If symptoms show up, speak to a health-care provider. People who spot blue-green algae where there are no posted signs are asked to report it to the Grand River Conservation Authority and or the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks spill action centre.
