Scientists have warned that the ecological damage from a marine heatwave off South Australia – which has triggered a devastating algal bloom – could rival the wildlife losses of the Black Summer bushfires, and should prompt an equally urgent government response.

Marine experts from five Australian universities have described the incident as “one of the worst marine disasters in living memory” and urged federal and state authorities to launch rapid investigations into at-risk species and fund emergency interventions.

In a report by the Biodiversity Council, an independent group founded by 11 universities, researchers outlined seven recommended actions to address the “foreseeable and even predicted” disaster and prepare for “an increasingly dangerous and unstable future”.

On Wednesday night, the federal Senate established an inquiry into the mass die-off of marine life. Coalition senator Anne Ruston accused both federal and South Australian governments of acting too slowly, allowing the crisis to escalate.

She welcomed recently announced $14m assistance packages from both governments but said the support was “manifestly inadequate”.

“It fails to recognise the magnitude of the response needed to both address the problem and deal with the clean-up,” the senator for SA said.

Prof Gretta Pecl, a Biodiversity Council member from the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, said: “At a national level this marine heatwave is likely to have an equivalent impact on wildlife as the black summer bushfires, once we consider not just this harmful algal bloom but also the extensive coral bleaching and mortality on both east and west coasts.”

She noted that governments had previously “mobilised significant funds” for natural disasters, “as we saw with the $2bn National Bushfire Recovery Fund, which included over $200m for wildlife recovery measures”.

The federal MP for the SA seat of Mayo, Rebekha Sharkie, said the federal government needed to commit more.

“With respect, if this was happening at Bondi beach, for example, I’m sure we’d be seeing a much larger slice of commonwealth funding,” she said, echoing recent comments from the Greens senator for SA Sarah Hanson-Young.

“Although there’s nothing we can do to stop the current bloom, we need additional investment for monitoring and research.”

Biodiversity Council recommendations include: an immediate $10m investment in research, a long-term reef monitoring programme modelled on the $40m Great Barrier Reef scheme, and urgent work to assess threats to species such as the giant cuttlefish, which breeds en masse each winter off Whyalla.

The council warned that the bloom’s effects would extend far beyond its visible boundaries, with knock-on impacts across other Australian marine regions due to interconnected ocean food webs.

“This harmful algal bloom is just one of the major consequences of the marine heatwave ringing Australia, which has also caused extensive coral bleaching on both east and west coasts with high rates of coral mortality,” she said.

The disaster is thought to have been driven by an extended marine heatwave, fuelled by nutrient-rich floodwaters and coastal upwelling, and worsened by the loss of marine ecosystems that once provided natural resilience.

Scientists called for accelerated decarbonisation to limit ocean warming – “the most important step in preventing harmful algal blooms” – alongside measures to curb nutrient and carbon pollution and restore marine habitats.

“The Albanese government will continue to work constructively with the South Australian government when it comes to the devastating SA algal bloom,” they said.

“That’s why we have contributed half of the $28m funding package with the South Australian government to support science and research to boost resilience and planning, industry support and clean up efforts.”

The Biodiversity Council director, James Trezise, said: “Alongside rapidly reducing emissions, Australia needs to be better prepared for environmental disasters such as this.

“This is likely to just be the tip of the iceberg for what our future looks like with unmitigated climate change and rapid biodiversity loss.”

The Senate inquiry will report back in late October.

 

 

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