CANBERRA, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Australia's federal government has announced a funding package to boost the response to a devastating toxic algal bloom off the country's south coast.
Murray Watt, minister for the environment and water, on Monday night committed up to 14 million Australian dollars (9.1 million U.S. dollars) in federal funding to support efforts in South Australia (SA) to combat the effects of the algal bloom.
He said at a press conference in Adelaide alongside state Premier Peter Malinauskas that the funding will go towards science and research, business assistance, clean-up efforts and community awareness and support.
The outbreak of the toxic algae Karenia mikimotoi was first detected off the coast of SA in March and has since caused the deaths of tens of thousands of marine creatures, including sharks, penguins and octopuses.
Watt, who inspected Adelaide beaches affected by the outbreak on Monday, said that the algal bloom is unprecedented in Australia but did not declare it a national disaster, a step that has been called for by some experts and politicians to streamline government activities and unlock funding.
"This is an unprecedented event and one of the difficulties has been understanding exactly what its impacts are and what sort of response is required," he said.
The SA Department for Environment and Water has identified a marine heatwave that started in September 2024, 2022-23 flooding that washed extra nutrients into the sea and a cold-water upwelling in 2023-24 that brought nutrient-rich water to the surface as possible causes of the outbreak.
According to experts, nothing can be done to dilute the bloom and it will only dissipate when environmental conditions change.
Malinauskas said on Monday night that the federal funding would go "a long way" to assisting people who are being affected most harshly by the toxic algae. ■
