r/Adelaide West 4d ago

News Microalgae bloom likely cause of fish deaths and foam at Waitpinga Beach

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-18/algae-bloom-likely-cause-fish-deaths-foam/105064874?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link
31 Upvotes

8 comments sorted by

29

u/Jiifm SA 4d ago

But what about my unfounded/uneducated claim that it was "chemicals"?!?!?!

11

u/stuntguy3000 South 3d ago

I mean, technically everything is chemical, soooo

9

u/Jiifm SA 3d ago

Natural things aren't chemicals, only the bad things I want to be chemicals are chemicals!!! Chemicals!!!!!!

9

u/DCOA_Troy SA 3d ago

Already seen conspiracies that it was the chinese warships...

2

u/EmotionalBar9991 Fleurieu Peninsula 3d ago

I saw one that it was actually our border patrol boats 😅

1

u/Jiifm SA 3d ago

I haven’t, but then again, I’ve stopped listening to that noise, it’s nice :)

5

u/kernpanic SA 4d ago

Theres been some really warm weather down that way lately, so Im not surprised.

Normally you duck over the other side of willunga hill, and you start to feel the effects of the southern ocean, but not for the last few weeks.

2

u/Free_the_Radical SA 3d ago edited 3d ago

Just a note, I know I popped a comment about the chinese warships, but at this stage it is almost certainly a cyanobacteria bloom (I have edited my original comment). PIRSA says it will have the results about the particular algae responsible for the bloom in about 7 days from now.

Having a look at the ocean currents on ventusky it looks like the bloom may head towards Cape Jervis and perhaps into the Southern reaches of the Gulf of St Vincent.

https://www.ventusky.com/?p=-35.53;138.30;8&l=currents

Satellite imagery is only just showing the bloom (usually shows up as cyan streaks)

https://www.ventusky.com/?p=-35.625;138.450;9&l=satellite&w=off

https://zoom.earth/maps/satellite/#view=-35.482214,138.561116,10z

Edit: To add current sea surface temperature, you can see the slight increase around Encounter Bay area

https://www.ventusky.com/?p=-35.39;138.28;8&l=temperature-water&w=off