Thoughtfactory’s Fleurieuscape’s Notebook

The current harmful algae bloom (HAB) in South Australia, a number of species within the Karenia family, some of which produce brevetoxins ((marine neurotoxins) including  Karenia cristata.  This HAB  is the largest and most destructive algal bloom in Australia’s history and it is persisting along parts of the South Australian coastline, a year on from when it was first detected in March 2025. It has affected 20,000 sq km of coast and resulted in marine mass mortality killing millions of sea creatures – from tiny shellfish to top predators like white sharks. It is  the most significant marine mortality events on the great southern reef in living memory. 

Though the  coastal water can be clear along  the beach  it has been stripped of biodiversity and marine life. If you walk along the coastal path between Rosetta Head and  Kings Head you can see the HAB  sitting in the sea just off the coast:

It comes and goes. Looking back we can see that that the initial SA Government response and messaging about the harmful algae bloom  were fragmented and confusing for stakeholders,  and that there were delays in both the Commonwealth and state governments' responses. The concerns of the local community on the southern Fleurieu Peninsula  were not heeded until the bloom reached the Adelaide metropolitan beaches.  

Karenia cristata is  the primary source of brevetoxins and this species produces high levels of neurotoxins -- hence Kalani's death from eating dead fish and the distressed and paralysed western grey kangaroos at Tunkakilla on the southern Fleurieu Peninsula who  were close to the toxic algae bloom. 

 UTS’s Professor Shauna Murray, who who first identified the Karenia cristata  species for  producing brevetoxins in Australian waters in November 2025  observes: “We isolated Karenia cristata cells and grew them in our laboratory and then used a series of molecular genetic methods to  dentify and quantify them in South Australian waters since March 2025. We found K. cristata cells were producing high levels of brevetoxins, which hadn’t been known before.”

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I had just finished an early morning poodlewalk along the coastal path  between Kings and Dep's Beach in Waitpinga.   I was  near  to the car at the Whale Lookout and I was just about to get into the car and looked north  from the coastal path  to  the agricultural fields  when this event happened --ie., came into presence: 

This event briefly created a clearing ("Lichtung") where something different to the world of agriculture (one of instrumentality and technology that enframes the earth as a resource) briefly appeared. 

Agriculture in the Fleurieu Peninsula  represents  the triumph of human beings' ability to take hold of the world, control and dominate it entirely from a secure ground. This  historical transformation of nature ensured that  agriculture --- grazing, cropping and  vineyards --- is dominant in the Fleurieu Peninsula.  It is seen as an unalterable fact of modem life and it reveals the  way in which both beings (cattle, people etc) are made manifest for practical use and how nature is reduced to nothing but a pile of resources available for use. 

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A personal context  about the  singular place  (topos) in which we find ourselves and where we live, walk and photograph. 

The picture below is from a granite headland and is a  view of the coastline in  South Australia's southern Fleurieu Peninsula   looking west from the top of a headland  towards Kings Head, Newland Heads and  Cape Jervis.  The  granite headland, which was ice-moulded during the Permian glaciation, is known as Rosetta Head (The Bluff)  or Kongkengguwar  for the first nations  Ramindjeri people.  This region is becoming increasingly developed and framed as a tourist experience.  Rosetta Head itself is currently undergoing a major, long-term tourist upgrade by the Victor Harbor Council.  

The walking trail  along the western coastline from Petrel Cove in the foreground is  now known as the Wild Coast Way and it links up with the southern part of the 1200 kilometre Heysen Trail, which starts at Cape Jervis and ends in the Flinders Ranges.    Suzanne  walked the Heysen Trail over 3 years. In spite of its length it is a very popular walk in South Australia.  

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Two seascapes from the winter of 2022. Both of the pictures are of Encounter Bay  from Rosetta Head (Kongkengguwarr) . This is a headland, 97m above sea level

I pretty much stand in the same location  and I'm looking  in the same direction east by south east --- the camera is basically  looking across  Encounter Bay to the coastline  of the Coorong.  

This is  in the late afternoon just before the sun disappeared behind the Mt Lofty Ranges in Waitpinga. 

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During the winter months  I have been  photographing the clouds and sea of Encounter Bay on  the early  morning poodlewalks.  This  photography has generally been before sunrise from the eastern side of Rosetta Head. The clouds usually disappear after sunrise 

An example:

 These are not just cloud studies nor just light studies as  often it is the play of light  on the water that attracts me as well as the clouds. 

 The clouds,  light and colours change rapidly between 15 minutes before sunrise and 15 minutes afterwards. 

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I have been taking advantage of the recent overcast weather conditions  to  photograph in the Spring Mount Conservation Park. The park  is  small (2.79 square kilometres),   consists of  mature stringybarks (both Eucalyptus obliqua and E. baxteri),  and  looks  as if it provides  a good habitat for the yellow tailed black cockatoo  (Calyptorhynchus funereus).  We only see these cockatoos in Encounter Bay when they feed on the pine cones in the  late summer/early autumn. 

The Spring Mount Conservation Park  is on a ridge lying between  the Inman Valley (in the south)  and the Hindmarsh Tiers Valley (in the north).   It  is  in a high rainfall area and  I discovered that it  can be raining there whilst it is sunny on the Victor Harbor coast, which is  just 15- 20 minutes away by car. I have  been mostly photographing on the Inman Valley side of the park,  as well as  walking along the roads along  the edge of the park such as the Mt Alma Rd and the Strangeways Rd. 

The  photo above  was made whilst I was walking along Strangeways Rd with the poodles. This road  runs east from Mt Alma Rd then south dropping down through  farmland in the valley to Sawpit Rd near the Inman Valley Rd.  It's a loop.  We only walked a couple of kilometres along Strangeways Rd. I have yet to explore the rest of this road in the car. Nor have I walked along the trails  within the  park. 

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This picture is  from Mount Alma Rd   looking north across some farmland towards the Spring Mount Conservation Park in the southern Fleurieu Peninsula: 

The  Spring Mount Conservation Park  is situated on a broad ridge that stands between the  Inman Valley and the Hindmarsh Tiers Rds. The trees in the park are mostly mature Brown Stringybark (Eucalyptus baxteri) and Messmate Stringybark (E. obliqua). 

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I have returned to  making some more photos of the coastal architecture at Victor Harbor on the southern Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia. This is  a break from the daily photos of the bushland and coastal rocks made whilst I am on the morning and afternoon poodlewalks.  

Most of the new coastal architecture is cheaply built holiday houses that would probably last only a generation. They don't even have foundations. The builders  just plonk a series of concrete blocks in 4  corners. There is no concrete slab.  

This particular house is situated on Encounter Lakes is more up market and better built.  Encounter Lakes is a new housing estate built  around a human made saltwater lake situated along Bartel Boulevard at Encounter Bay.The houses are basically  built for retirees: one level and low maintenance. The emphasis is on lifestyle. 

Another version of a retiree house,  this time one along Franklin Parade in Encounter Bay that is  facing the sea. Franklin Parade  is seen as a prime location. 

The cashed up retirees are leaving Adelaide and moving down to live beside the sea  on  the southern coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula. 

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During the transition from summer to autumn this year I started a  study of clouds from the top of Rosetta Head in the southern Fleurieu Peninsula.   I was building on these earlier photos. 

From Rosetta Head I was usually  looking east north east.    

The clouds were above Encounter Bay,  and the photos were  made  in the early morning,  generally  before sunrise. The photo above  is an example. 

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The cloud formations  that move  across Encounter Bay  around Victor Harbor are often quite dramatic.  

The photos  of the clouds are usually made  from on top of Rosetta Head in the early morning:

The  cloud shapes are constantly changing.