A fixed flowering of toxic algae is killing more than 200 species of marine life on the southern coast of Australia, scientists and conservation groups say.
Algae, Karenia Mikimotoi, appeared in waters around the state of South Australia in March, causing massive deaths in species that include sharks, rays, crabs and octopus.
“There are beach -based bodies,” said Brad Martin, manager of the non -profit fish conservation group Ozfish.
“It’s like a horror movie for Fish,” Martin told BBC.
Beaches in tourist raffles rich in wildlife as Kangaroo IslandThe Yorke Peninsula and the Fleurieu Peninsula have been affected.
Flowering extends through 1,700 square miles, Martin said, an area larger than Japan or Germany.
Karenia Mikimotoi has been detected worldwide since the 1930s, including Japan, Norway, China and the United States, where the local tourism and fishing industries has interrupted, causing damage worth millions of dollars. In California, hundreds of seas animals have died due to a flowering of toxic algae that extend from San Diego to San Luis Obispo, CBS Los Angeles reported last month.
But Martin said that Australia del Sur had not previously experienced a flowering of toxic algae or this scale or duration.
“It is an unprecedented event, because the Bloom has continued to build and build,” Wildlife Scientists Vanessa Pirotta said to the BBC.
The Government of southern Australia said it is believed that the event was promoted by a marine heat wave, as well as relatively quiet marine conditions.
Marina Shauna Murray biologist, who identified algae species for the authorities, said she damages fish gills and prevents them from breathing.
“It’s not pleasant,” said Murray, from the Sydney Technological University. “The ecosystem will probably take some time to recover.”
While the conditions are generally facilitated at the end of April, there had not yet been relief, said this month, the Minister of Environment of Australia del Sur, Susan Close.
“We need a great change in the climate to break this: there is nothing that precipitates this,” ABC told the national broadcaster.
I looked, the authorities of southern Australia have urged the beach to the beach to avoid swimming in water that is discolored or foamy, warning that it can irritate the skin and affect breathing.
Climate change It has led to an increase in the frequency and duration of the heat waves of the Navy in Australia, which significantly affects marine ecosystems.
