Tasmanian authorities are working to identify a pink slime that has appeared on a secluded beach, with some scientists concerned it could be an algal bloom.<\/p>\n
The pink-tinged sludge appeared along a stretch of Randalls Bay about 60km south of Hobart on Friday morning. A similar sludge has also been recorded on sections of Little Roaring Beach in Tasmania\u2019s D\u2019Entrecasteaux Channel and Little Taylors Bay.<\/p>\n
Samples have been taken and provided to Tasmania\u2019s Environment Protection Authority for testing. A spokesperson for the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania did not clarify when results might be expected, but said \u201calgal blooms are a natural occurrence in response to changes in nutrients, temperature, rainfall or light\u201d.<\/p>\n
The pink sludge seen at Randalls Bay on Friday morning. Algal blooms occur naturally but the frequency of such events has increased in recent years. Photograph: Neighbours of Fish Farming<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are sometimes called red or pink tides because the blooms can turn the water red,\u201d the spokesperson said. \u201cNot all algal blooms are harmful, with many species acting as a major source of energy for animals in the marine food web.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most common cause of red tides in Tasmanian waters is the marine phytoplankton Noctiluca scintillans, which can cause bioluminescent light displays at night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Algal blooms occur naturally but the frequency of such events has increased in recent years, in part due to climate change and pollution that combine to create nutrient-rich waters geared for the rapid spread of dinoflagellates<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n Dinoflagellates are a phytoplankton species that normally act as the ocean\u2019s garbage cleaners. During a bloom, there is a rapid growth in their populations that disrupts the proper operation of ecosystems.<\/p>\n These events have been compared to underwater bushfires and can continue to grow as long as conditions are ripe. In more extreme scenarios, sensitive marine ecosystems can be wiped out as marine life is killed or suffocated, providing more nutrients for the bloom.<\/p>\n South Australia recently grappled with a devastating algal bloom along its southern coastline after a series of marine heatwaves, which spread across thousands of square kilometres. The bloom left surfers with irritated eyes and hacking coughs<\/a> and may have killed up to 250,000 marine animals<\/a> across 400 different species, according to SA government calculations revealed in a document released under freedom of information laws.<\/p>\n Faith Coleman, an estuarine ecologist who helped investigate the start of South Australia\u2019s algal bloom said, based on photos of the Tasmanian outbreak, the most likely species involved was Noctiluca scintillans, a type of dinoflagellate also known as \u201csea sparkle\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThere have been lots of these blooms around Tassie of late,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Coleman said sea sparkle did not produce toxins similar to the species involved in South Australia\u2019s devastating algal bloom, but it does eat small invertebrates and \u201clots of fish eggs\u201d, meaning fish and crustacean species were most at risk.<\/p>\n \u201cYou usually see a bloom of sea sparkle after a bloom of something else, or something like a salmon or coral spawning event,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n