Dead penguins join fish on Adelaide beaches A dead penguin washed ashore at Seacliff, along with hundreds of dead fish. Picture: Matt Deighton Source: adelaidenow DEAD penguins have been found alongside more dead fish which have washed ashore along the Adelaide metropolitan coastline. Two dead penguins - at Seacliff and Holdfast Shore - have been photographed by adelaidenow readers, who have questioned expert claims that recent mass deaths of aquatic life within Gulf St Vincent are not linked to the controversial $1.8 billion desalination plant at Port Stanvac. The penguins were found today as people came across hundreds of more dead fish which have been washed ashore overnight from Aldinga to Semaphore. On Saturday, thousands of dead fish were found on beaches, which government aquatic experts said were part of a recent mass kill caused by higher than normal March temperatures. Nathan Mabikafola with a dead snapper washed ashore on Aldinga Beach. Picture: Nathan Mabikafola/Newsforce BiosecuritySA manager of aquatic pests Vic Neverauskas said on Saturday that algal blooms, which depleted the oxygen in the ocean, as a result of a hotter-than-usual March had caused the fish to die. Mr Neverauskas, who has been investigating fish kills for 30 years, also dismissed the claim that the fish deaths could have been caused by the operation of the Port Stanvac desalination plant. "There is no way in Hades that this can be linked to desal," he said. Dead penguins like this one at Holdfast Shores are being found along the metropolitan Adelaide coastline. Picture: Stefaan van Damme/Newsforce Most of them are fish carcasses that died further out to sea. There is no indication they are fresh mortalities. Mr Neverauskas said testing carried out on some of the fish which had washed up on a stretch of Adelaide's southern beaches, including Moana, Moana South, O'Sullivan Beach and Christies Beach, had confirmed it had been a combination of the algal bloom and warm water that had caused the deaths. He said the ocean had been two to three degrees warmer than normal during March Some of the dead fish washed ashore at Moana. Picture: Andy Sintome The latest discovery follows a similar incident last week when thousands of dead fish were found across long stretches of sand at Moana, Moana South, O'Sullivans Beach and Christies Beach. Mr Neverauskas also said then that high levels of algal bloom from hot weather had depleted oxygen levels in the water. Mr Neverauskas said the incident was linked to the dead fish that washed up on Eyre Peninsula this month, with strong westerly winds blowing the algal bloom back towards Adelaide. "The best information suggests we are dealing with extensive algal bloom from hot weather," he said. Dead fish on Seaford beach . Picture: Roger Wyman