New vision of South Australia’s toxic algal bloom shows scores of dead fish lying in “dark neon green” waters, highlighting the extent of the ecological disaster unfolding underwater.
Warning: Readers are advised this article includes content some may find confronting.
Marine scientist and filmmaker Stefan Andrews, who captured the footage near the Ardrossan jetty on SA’s Yorke Peninsula, said he saw “hundreds, if not thousands” of fish — mostly garfish — strewn across the seabed.
Scenes underwater near Ardrossan jetty on SA’s Yorke Peninsula. (Supplied: Great Southern Reef Foundation)
Mr Andrews filmed the vision on Wednesday after marine life began washing up on the Yorke Peninsula coast around two weeks earlier.
He said among the dead were wobbegong sharks and stingrays.
“As soon as I put my head in the water and got a couple of metres from the bottom, I could see dead fish everywhere,” Mr Andrews said.
“We’ve seen so many stingrays washing up on the shore, but we just don’t really have any idea how many of these stingrays are just laying on the bottom decomposing away.
“So within relatively short distance there were hundreds of marine mortalities down there, which is pretty disturbing.”
Hundreds of marine mortalities were visible underwater, Stefan Andrews said. (Supplied: Great Southern Reef Foundation)
Mr Andrews said the waters around Ardrossan had turned “deep dark neon green” despite being “relatively clear” up until recently.
He said that while there was a large concentration of marine mortalities clustered around the Ardrossan jetty, fishers have reported garfish deaths 10 kilometres up the coast.
The underwater footage shows fish gasping for oxygen, a brittle star with a hole pierced through its body, dead stingrays, dying abalone and garfish in pieces.
A brittle star, which is closely related to starfish, with a hole pierced through the centre of its body. (Supplied: Great Southern Reef Foundation)
Regarding the cuts observed on some fish, Mr Andrews said the leading theory locally is that birds were feeding on the dying garfish.
‘What this may be is fish that were dying and birds were smashing them and maybe that’s what led to them being bit in half,” he said.
“I’m just speculating here, but we’ve seen so many bizarre, strange things in our oceans at the moment.”
Fish in pieces at the bottom of the sea near Ardrossan Jetty. (Supplied: Great Southern Reef Foundation)
A spokesperson for SA’s Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA) said it tested the waters around Ardrossan following reports of the garfish deaths.
That testing, PIRSA said, confirmed the presence of Karenia mikimotoi, the species responsible for the toxic algal bloom that has been choking the state’s coastlines since March.
“Based on the available information it is currently determined that [Thursday’s] fish kill event is likely the result of the harmful algal bloom,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
Some fish in pieces on the sea floor. (Supplied: Great Southern Reef Foundation)
‘Catastrophic event’
The scenes of ravaged marine life off the Yorke Peninsula are the latest in what Mr Andrews described as a “catastrophic event that’s occurring over such a huge part of the state’s coastal waters”.
“If this was happening on land … there would be really widespread uproar,” he said.
Mr Andrews, founder of an education and research not-for-profit called Great Southern Reef Foundation, wanted the algal bloom to be declared a “national emergency”.
Stefan Andrews does dives to investigate the impacts of algal bloom. (Supplied)
The toxic bloom was first detected in March off the Fleurieu Peninsula and has since grown to a size comparable with Kangaroo Island.
Authorities estimate it has caused tens of thousands of individual animals to wash up dead on the state’s beaches.
The bloom has been detected along the Spencer Gulf, Kangaroo Island, the Coorong’s North Lagoon and along the coastline from Victor Harbor to Robe.
It’s also been picked up at Troubridge Point on Yorke Peninsula, more than 80km south of the Ardrossan jetty.
Earlier this month, the bloom was detected in metropolitan Adelaide at West Lakes and the Port River.
The bloom is considered non-toxic to humans, but can cause skin, eye and lung irritation.
‘We will see businesses shutting doors very shortly’
The Ardrossan footage was published online amid growing concerns about the impact of the bloom on SA’s fishing industry.
Calamari stocks along the Yorke Peninsula have been decimated ahead of breeding season, according to Michael Pennington, a commercial fisher based in Ardrossan.
Mr Pennington said he has not been able to fish for a month while other commercial fishers have been out of action for up to three months.
“It’s pretty hard sitting at home on flat calm days where you should be at work and catching a few fish to put food on the table,” he said.
Michael Pennington says the algal bloom has “completely destroyed” the ocean floor where he would usually fish. (Supplied)
Citing catch records filed with authorities, Mr Pennington said only 7 kilograms of calamari has been fished from Gulf St Vincent over the last four weeks.
In a normal year, this four-week period would typically yield between 9 and 12 tonnes, he said.
“We’ve got no calamari here now and we’ve got no eggs, and all the bottom of the ocean is just completely destroyed and dead,” he said.
“So, next season, that’s just a complete write off.
“I honestly do not know how many years this could take to get a calamari fishery back in Gulf St Vincent — it’s pretty well non-existent now.”
An ‘ocean COVID’ is choking sea businesses
Mr Pennington said he wants the bloom to be declared a national disaster “before it’s too late”.
“Because it’s not just the commercial fisherman that are affected … the tourism on the Yorke Peninsula now is like — I’ve never seen our town so quiet,” he said.
“Tourism and fishing go hand in hand over here … that’s why people come to the Yorke Peninsula.
“We’ve got no help … and it’s getting to the point where we will see businesses shutting doors very shortly.”
The state government on Tuesday announced a $500,000 initial relief package for fishers affected by the algal bloom, allowing them to have certain licence and audit fees waived.
Acting SA Premier Susan Close has left the door open to increasing the state government’s relief package.
“This is an unfolding challenge, so we’ve stepped in and offered immediate relief,” she said on Saturday.
“But we recognise that depending on how this bloom goes, we may well have to look at further assistance.”
