Latest update: Hot spots and ‘no cover-up’ of algal bloom culprit
One of the state’s leading experts on the algal bloom is rejecting suggestions of a cover-up over the likely species producing harmful brevetoxins, as latest testing reveals the SA spots with the highest readings.
In a weekly update on the state’s harmful algal bloom, the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) executive director Mike Steer said there had “absolutely not” been a cover-up of Karenia cristata, which was recently identified in an academic paper as the potential main source of harmful brevetoxins within the algal bloom.
He rejected questioning of the State Government this week, suggesting there had been a potential cover-up of the harmful algal species.
The algal bloom was first seen in mid-March 2025 near Waitpinga and Parsons beaches on the Fleurieu Peninsula and has caused thousands of marine deaths across South Australia.
“We have known that there’s been brevetoxin in our shellfish since late April, early May. We can identify the actual analogues,” he said.
“We knew that there was some Karenia species in the mix that was producing those brevetoxins that we’ve been recording for months.
“What we didn’t know was what its name was. So, this work has just basically said, ‘Oh, it’s cristata‘ along with a range of other species that are in the mix.”
You might like
It comes after Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia questioned Premier Malinauskas this week over how long he had known Karenia cristata was likely the dominant species causing harmful brevetoxins within the algal bloom.
Speaking in Question Time on November 11, Tarzia asked the Premier if he had “sought briefings on why Karenia cristata was not detected sooner?” and if he could “confirm when the government was first notified that a toxin-producing algae had been detected in the current bloom?”.
Premier Malinauskas said in response that the State Government had known “a long, long time ago” that “there was a toxin-producing element of the algae”.
“…We know there is the brevetoxin that is being produced by the harmful algal bloom, and we have been consistent about that,” he told Parliament.
The South Australian Liberal Party has also this week called for a process for medical professionals to report health symptoms that could be linked to the algal bloom.
Stay informed, daily
Latest results from November 10 continued to show low levels of Karenia detected in many metropolitan areas, despite elevated levels detected in some regional locations.
Data from the South Australian Algal Bloom Water Testing and Monitoring Program showed there were zero levels of Karenia detected at the Port River Garden Island Boat Ramp, West Lakes Exit and West Lakes Lochside Footbridge.
Sixteen metropolitan onshore sites recorded low levels of Karenia, ranging from 100 to 8700 cells per litre, while Glenelg Jetty and O’Sullivan Beach Boat Ramp recorded elevated levels of Karenia at 13,000 and 53,000 cells per litre, respectively.
The latest metropolitan results showed overall Karenia levels remain low compared with levels detected on October 19, when six sites recorded more than a million cells per litre.
Meanwhile, regional locations across much of the Eyre Peninsula, Yorke Peninsula and Fleurieu Peninsula show zero or low levels of Karenia, while elevated levels of between 11,000 and 440,000 cells per litre were detected at Franklin Harbour on the Eyre Peninsula, Emu Bay Jetty and Penneshaw Breakwater on Kangaroo Island and Wirrina Breakwater on the Fleurieu Peninsula
“What we have seen, encouragingly, is some pretty dramatic changes along the metropolitan coastline, where we’re starting to see those Karenia counts go back to that baseline level, that ecologically sustainable level, which is really encouraging,” said Steer.
“We do acknowledge, however, that this species is incredibly dynamic and if conditions are favourable for their growth and reproduction … they could have reactivity of that bloom, which is why it’s really important that we maintain a strong focus on measuring those cells, reporting it and documenting it through time.”
In response to this week’s scathing report released following a Senate inquiry into the algal bloom, Environment Minister Lucy Hood once again stressed that the algal bloom crisis was an “unprecedented event”.
“We did have a significant cross-agency response to the harmful algal bloom. It’s why we had an initial $28 million package in partnership with the Federal Government and then worked extensively with them and with our agencies to deliver the $102.5 million Summer Plan,” she said.
Members of the federal senate inquiry committee delivered a unanimous, damning, 207-page report that was critical of the state and federal government’s handling of the harmful algal bloom.
It claimed there was a delayed response, a shortfall in monitoring data and failings in providing early health advice.
Inquiry chair Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the report laid bare “just how ill-prepared both the state and federal governments were for this type of ecological and economic disaster”.
