A mysterious foam has washed up on a beach on SA's Fleurieu Peninsula. Surfers who visited over the weekend have reported coughing, sore throats and blurred vision. SA's primary industries department is investigating reports of a "fish mortality event" and two beaches have been closed.
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00:00A mystery foam on a popular Fleurieu Peninsula beach, making surfers and swimmers sick.
00:08Sore eyes, sore throat and the coughing continued all day.
00:12Dead fish and leafy sea dragons also washed up on Waipinga Beach near Victor Harbour over the weekend.
00:18I didn't even look very hard yesterday and we found about six.
00:21The South Australian Environment Protection Authority has told ABC Adelaide
00:26Their early thoughts is that it's probably a micro algal bloom.
00:30Which is largely driven by the preceding weather conditions that we've had over the last couple of weeks
00:37which has been that long, hot, still weather.
00:41Foam was also seen at nearby Petrel Cove and Parsons Beach.
00:46In a statement, the state's primary industries department says it's investigating what has caused the fish deaths
00:52and that fish kill events can be brought on by a variety of causes.
00:57Common sense tells me it's some sort of algal bloom.
01:00But yeah, it would be good just to get some proper scientific answers at this point
01:04because it's definitely not normal for this area.
01:06In another statement, SA Health says water quality at beaches can be affected in the short term by a range of factors
01:14including water temperature and algal blooms.
01:17Exposure to algae can cause general allergic type responses
01:21including respiratory and eye irritation or skin rashes in some people.
01:26These symptoms disappear when the exposure stops or following washing in clean water.
01:31Waipinga Beach and Parsons Beach have been temporarily closed to the public.