An investigation is underway into fish deaths and a mysterious foam on a South Australian beach, with several people reportedly falling ill after visiting the area.
The discoloured foam stretches for hundreds of metres along Waitpinga Beach, around 15 kilometres south-west of Victor Harbor, with local beachgoers reporting cold and flu symptoms after visiting at the weekend.
Dozens of dead fish and leafy seadragons can also be seen on the beach, with some visitors reporting a visible “slick” on the water.
A Department for Environment and Water spokesperson told the ABC Waitpinga Beach and Parsons Beach within the Newland Head Conservation Park will be temporarily closed.
The Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA) confirmed it was investigating whether a “fish mortality event” occurred at Waitpinga.
“PIRSA’s role in this type of incident is to investigate the cause of the fish kill to rule out infectious and notifiable animal diseases, establish the cause and coordinate a response where necessary,” a PIRSA spokesperson said.
“Fish kill events can be brought on by a variety of causes including environmental factors such as temperature, rainfall (or lack of) and water quality including salinity or oxygen levels, or by disease or pollutants.”
PIRSA urged anyone who has noticed something unusual involving dead or dying fish to call FISHWATCH on 1800 065 522.
The foam has also been reported at nearby Parsons Beach as well as Kings Beach and Petrel Cove near Victor Harbor.
Local surfer Anthony Rowland said he visited Waitpinga Beach on Saturday morning with a couple of friends.
“While we were out there we started coughing,” he said.
“[We] came in [from the beach] and we kept coughing after walking up the hill, and a few people in the car park came over and they said that they’d experienced the same coughing and they hadn’t even hit the water yet.”
Mr Rowland said he experienced sore eyes, a sore throat and coughing which “continued all day”.
He said he posted his experience on social media, which prompted dozens of people to come forward and report a similar experience.
“Lots of people reached out — so many people have said they’ve had exactly the same symptoms,” he said.
“It’s quite overwhelming. I’d say that pretty much every single person that went in the water at Waitpinga, bar one young fella that had a quick half-an-hour surf, has reported the same symptoms.”
SA Health did not say whether there had been any reported hospitalisations linked to the incident.
SA Health Principal Water Quality Adviser David Cunliffe told the ABC beach water quality could be impacted by a range of factors “including water temperature and algal blooms”.
“While the issue that affected some beach users at Waitpinga at the weekend has not been confirmed, in marine waters algae can range from red-brown to green,” he said.
“Exposure to algae, including in aerosols, can cause general allergic-type responses including symptoms such as respiratory and eye irritation or skin rashes in some people, while ingestion could cause stomach upsets or flu-like symptoms.
“These symptoms disappear when the exposure stops or following washing in clean water.
“People should avoid contact with discoloured fresh or marine water. If they do enter this water they should take care to wash in clean water afterwards.”
‘A bit scary’: Beachgoers report blurry vision
Mr Rowland said blurred vision was among the most common symptoms reported by local surfers who visited Waitpinga over the weekend.
He said one surfer reported experiencing these symptoms as early as Friday.
“His eyes were mostly affected and he said his vision was blurry and it was quite heavily affecting his vision, and the next morning it was still blurry when he spoke — but it got better,” Mr Rowland said.
“It’s definitely a bit scary.
“There’s been at least I’d say 15 people out of maybe the 40 to 60 who have contacted me via message … have said their vision was heavily affected.”
Surfer Andy from Middleton said he visited Parsons Beach on Saturday morning and received messages from several friends who said they were “sick with sore eyes”.
“They had coughs, they had breathing difficulties when they were driving home back to Adelaide,” he told ABC Radio Adelaide.
“A lot of people come down here on the weekends to surf from Adelaide and I had 30 or 40 messages with the same symptoms and they actually said their friends had it as well.
“Some people reported a bit of a slick on the water too.
“A couple people said they saw a lot of green on the beach, but yesterday there was a lot of foam, a lot of brown on the beach as well.
“There’s lots of different theories going around at the moment.”
Another beachgoer, Taryn, said she went to Waitpinga on Saturday and was left coughing and “wheezing” from the experience.
She said she went to the beach with a group of seven people on a fishing trip.
“When we got down the beach we noticed there was a bit of a haze,” she said.
“But then after probably only being down the beach maybe only a few minutes, [I] started to have a bit of a cough.
“Maybe after an hour, all of us were having sort of coughs, which made me think obviously there’s something in the air.”
Taryn said she noticed there was a “yellowy” foam in the water — despite it being “perfectly clean” when she visited a couple of weeks earlier.
“After a couple of hours, I started to move up into the sand dunes because there was obviously something not right really with the fact we were coughing,” she said.
PIRSA investigating fish deaths
Mr Rowland said he picked up six dead leafy seadragons within a 15-metre stretch of the beach.
He said there was a “big range of species” that had been left on the beach when he visited again on Sunday night.
“We want answers because this isn’t normal,” he said.
“I’ve lived down here since I was three years old, I’m 42 now, never seen this out here at Waitpinga.”
PIRSA said it was investigating the matter in conjunction with the Environment Protection Authority and SA Health.
