Agencies in the island state are working to identify a magenta ooze that has surfaced on a isolated coast, with a number of researchers worried it could be an algae outbreak.
The magenta-hued slime appeared along a portion of a southern bay about 60km south of the city. A comparable ooze has also been noted on areas of Little Roaring Beach and a separate bay.
Specimens have been taken and provided to the regulatory body for testing. A spokesperson stated that "algae outbreaks are a normal phenomenon in response to shifts in minerals, heat, precipitation or sunlight".
"The events are sometimes called crimson or rosy tides because the outbreaks can color the water crimson," the representative said. "Only some algal blooms are toxic, with numerous types serving as a major source of energy for marine life in the oceanic food chain."
"The primary reason of crimson tides in local waters is the sea plant Noctiluca scintillans, which can create bioluminescent light displays at night."
Algal blooms are natural events but their frequency has risen in recent times, in part due to global warming and environmental waste that join together to create mineral-filled seas geared for the fast proliferation of dinoflagellates.
Dinoflagellates are a phytoplankton species that normally function as the ocean's detritus consumers. During a outbreak, there is a quick expansion in their populations that disturbs the healthy balance of aquatic systems.
These events have been likened to marine infernos and can persist in growing as long as the environment is suitable. In more extreme scenarios, vulnerable aquatic environments can be devastated as aquatic animals is eliminated or smothered, supplying more minerals for the bloom.
A southern state recently grappled with a severe algae outbreak along its southern shore after a succession of sea temperature spikes, which extended across a vast area. The event left swimmers with sore eyes and hacking coughs and may have eliminated up to a quarter-million sea creatures across 400 different species, according to agency assessments.
An estuarine ecologist, who was involved in studying the start of that outbreak commented, based on pictures of the local event, the probable type involved was Noctiluca scintillans, a type of dinoflagellate also known as "marine shimmer".
"There have been many of these events around Tassie of late," she remarked.
The expert explained this organism did not create harmful substances similar to the species involved in the previous severe algal bloom, but it does ingest small invertebrates and "many fish eggs", meaning aquatic creatures were in greatest danger.
"You usually see a proliferation of the organism after a bloom of something else, or something like a fish reproduction," she noted.
A campaigner, who gathered specimens of the pink sludge in Tasmania, stated it seemed the possible outbreak had "expanded greatly" and suggested the salmon farming industry was the most likely culprit, referring to comparable events elsewhere.
"So we needs to issue a clear message here, the authorities and the EPA need to act to this. We need to study the specimens we've taken and we need to notify the community here," she said.
The scientist said she had anxieties for people's well-being after experiencing a numbness along her body while being sprayed with affected seawater.
An advocacy organization has stated dead octopus and dead sea cucumbers washing ashore, with a longtime environmental campaigner labeling the circumstances as an "natural disaster" and urging the government head to visit and "assume command the response that government must be undertaking".
"The leader needs to understand this is a disaster in the happening, commercially as well as ecologically."
Talking with the media, the leader stated he was uninformed of any relationships between the algae outbreak and the farming business, stating laboratory analysis was required before determinations could be drawn.
"It is vital to guarantee our waterways are environmentally safe and sustainable," he remarked.
"The 1,200 beaches across the island are our assets and we need to guarantee the public and our industry can live together to enjoy our aquatic resources effectively and sustainably."
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