Environment Protection Authority says blooms are ‘natural occurrence’ as marine scientist warns it has grown ‘significantly’ in recent hours
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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.
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’s D’Entrecasteaux Channel and Little Taylors Bay.
Samples have been taken and provided to Tasmania’s 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 “algal blooms are a natural occurrence in response to changes in nutrients, temperature, rainfall or light”.
