Mark Piovesan/Getty Over the past 15 months, one of the country’s worst marine environmental disasters has been unfolding in South Australia. A harmful algal bloom expanded in many coastal seas, killing thousands of fish, birds, shellfish and marine mammals. Even iconic species such as giant cuttlefish and seadragons have washed up dead on beaches. These blooms happen when particular species of microscopic algae accumulate in a body of water. Several hundred species of microalgae produce toxins