The red tide currently sweeping the southern and eastern Cape coastline is
resulting in the widespread death of marine life. A report on the IoL site notes
SANParks spokesperson Nandi Mgwadlamba said last week that dead fish, mainly
grunters and tiger perch, had been found in the shallow water at Brenton-on-Sea
outside Knysna and Robberg at Plettenberg Bay. Dead heart urchins had also been
found at Leisure Isle in Knysna. In Port Elizabeth last week, some 80kg of dead
fish was collected in the Sardinia Bay area alone. According to the report,
Mgwadlamba said people were also failing to heed warnings not to eat the fish.
While local marine experts were still trying to determine the toxicity of the
organism, they cited the rapid fall in dissolved oxygen in the water column as a
probable cause for the death of marine life, the report states.- IOL
