What struck Scott Bennett most were the razor clams.
The long saltwater clams, resembling old-fashioned razors, normally burrow into sand to avoid predators. But when Bennett, an ecologist, visited South Australia’s Great Southern Reef last month, he saw thousands of them rotting on the sea floor. <a href=трипскан>https://trip-scan.info</a> “100% of them were dead and wasting away on the bottom,” Bennett told CNN.
Since March, a harmful algal bloom, fueled by a marine heat wave, has been choking South Australia’s coastline, turning once-colorful ecosystems filled with thriving marine life into underwater graveyards.
The bloom has killed about 15,000 animals from over 450 species, according to observations on the citizen science site iNaturalist. They include longfinned worm eels, surf crabs, warty prowfish, leafy seadragons, hairy mussels and common bottlenose dolphins. трип скан https://trip-scan.info The algae have poisoned more than 4,500 square kilometers (1,737 square miles) of the state’s waters – an area larger than Rhode Island – littering beaches with carcasses and ravaging an area known for its diversity.
It’s “one of the worst marine disasters in living memory,” according to a report by the Biodiversity Council, an independent expert group founded by 11 Australian universities.
The toxic algal bloom has devastated South Australia’s fishing industry and repelled beachgoers, serving as a stark warning of what happens when climate change goes unchecked.
Once a bloom begins, there is no way of stopping it.
“This shouldn’t be treated as an isolated event,” Bennett said. “This is symptomatic of climate driven impacts that we’re seeing across Australia due to climate change.”
It all started back in March, when dozens of surfers at beaches outside Gulf St Vincent, about an hour south of state capital Adelaide, reported experiencing a sore throat, dry cough and blurred vision after emerging from the sea. <a href=https://trip-scan.org>трип скан</a> Shortly after, a mysterious yellow foam appeared in the surf. Then, dead marine animals started washing up.
Scientists at the University of Technology Sydney soon confirmed the culprit: a buildup of a tiny planktonic algae called Karenia mikimotoi. And it was spreading. https://trip-scan.org трипскан In early May, the government of Kangaroo Island, a popular eco-tourism destination, said the algal bloom had reached its coastline. A storm at the end of May pushed the algae down the coast into the Coorong lagoon. By July, it had reached the beaches of Adelaide.
Diverse algae are essential to healthy marine ecosystems, converting carbon dioxide into oxygen and benefiting organisms all the way up the food chain, from sea sponges and crabs to whales.
But too much of one specific type of algae can be toxic, causing a harmful algal bloom, also sometimes known as a red tide.
While Karenia mikimotoi does not cause long-term harm to humans, it can damage the gills of fish and shellfish, preventing them from breathing. Algal blooms can also cause discoloration in the water and block sunlight from coming in, harming ecosystems.
The Great Southern Reef is a haven for “really unique” biodiversity, said Bennett, a researcher at the University of Tasmania, who coined the name for the interconnected reef system which spans Australia’s south coast.
About 70% of the species that live there are endemic to the area, he said, meaning they are found nowhere else in the world.
“For these species, once they’re gone, they’re gone.”
ThomasPousy (5 минут назад)