Toxic plankton kills fish off Bali

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2007

JAKARTA (AFP) — Toxic plankton has killed thousands of fish in waters off the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

The "red tide," or algal bloom, has contaminated the sea in the Tabanan district, the head of the Bali Fisheries Office Ida Bagus Putu Wisnawa Manuaba said Thursday.

"The fish's mass death is a natural phenomenon caused by the El Nino-induced storm which moved from the Pacific Ocean to the Indonesian waters.

"The El Nino-induced storm triggered the growth of toxic planktons called red tide," Manuaba was quoted by the official Antara news agency as saying.

He said the toxic plankton had turned the sea red and yellow.

People living near the two beaches were warned not to eat the dead fish or swim in the waters, he said.

The...