Response 'far too slow' to combat algal gloom crisis

Over 13,000 animals were killed by an algal bloom that affected a third of South Australia's coast. (Matt Turner/AAP PHOTOS)

Communities were abandoned by authorities as thousands of marine  animals washed up dead on beaches following a devastating algal bloom, a parliamentary committee chair says.

South Australia's toxic algal bloom has affected more than 30 per cent of the state's coastline since it was identified in March, with more than 13,000 recorded animal deaths, an inquiry into the causes, frequency, scale and duration of the event found.