This froth and bubble on the Inman River weir is not Karenia mikimotoi.

This froth and bubble on the Inman River weir is not Karenia mikimotoi.
It is food for it.
It is “nutrient" – rural runoff of phosphates.
A boom for the bloom, so to speak.

Politicians have been wary about it, tip-toeing around questions from the algal bloom community forum audiences. 
Premier Malinauskas acknowledged phosphates as an issue when he was here.
But he was not pressed on the subject and gratefully, methinks, he moved on to other issues.
Our politicians do not know how to tell farmers to use less fertiliser. They are wary of the wrath of the mighty agri-chemical industry.

I’m no lover of the Monsantos of this world, but I am a lover of and believer in farmers.
I believe farmers need just a nudge of conscience to curb the chemicals.
Farmers “husband” the land. It is not in their interest to upset the environment, land or sea.
They’ve known about nutrient run-off but, like most of us, have blithely believed the sea can take it, the sea is a big cleanser.

Even the shocking 2022-23 Murray River floods combined with a marine heat wave’s mass fish deaths didn’t warn us...well, it warned scientists, and they warned governments…but politics and the environment are uncomfortable bedfellows.
Not all politicians want to deal with ecological issues. Heaven help them, their survival depends on winning votes.
They have to finesse the ignorant doubters, the conspiracy theorist nutters, the strident anti-vaxxers, the weirdos who claim jet trails are putting microchips in our brains… they jostle for attention.
They are a noisy anchor chain dragging against enlightenment.

The politicians are right onboard now. They are as scared and upset as we are.
No one anticipated quite just how ghastly is this marine phenomenon.
As it turns out, this outburst of Karenia algae not believed any more to be just one …. but a complex and yet not fully understood cocktail of algae.
And thus does it confronts our environment with a whole new catastrophic slap in the wellbeing.

There’s a veritable domino pattern of suffering and loss, from the marine animal kingdom through to the human coffee shops and pubs, to the very tourism image of our gorgeous coast.
And how the word “bloom” has soured.

Samela is a passionate environmental advocate and an iconic South Australian journalist, critic, columnist, author, and blogger.
Her impressive career and contributions to our state's cultural and public life have been recognised with the SA Media Lifetime Achievement Award and an induction into the Journalist's Hall of Fame.

We're delighted to welcome Samela, as a member and guest writer for Biodiversity Victor Harbor.

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Image credit: Samela Harris & Biodiversity Victor Harbor