From coral bleaching to habitat degradation and species loss, our oceans are increasingly susceptible to climate-related crises. In South Australia, the vulnerability of local marine environments was highlighted recently through the emergence of a harmful algal bloom (HAB) around March 2025, and which was still evident in April 2026. The HAB devastated marine ecology along ~30% of the coastline and resulted in health and economic impacts for local communities. While research in the natural sciences has investigated some aspects of the HAB, community concerns remain including uncertainty about toxicity and health impacts, grief related to biodiversity losses, and questions around how long the HAB will last and – in the context of climate change – whether it will return. This paper emphasises the importance of research on the science-society interface in the face of such marine events. Social sciences can explore how local communities, scientists and politicians make sense of what has happened, what they see as the way forward, and who they see as responsible to enact change when environmental challenges with global causes have such devastating local impacts. Drawing together insights from both science and social research has the potential to strengthen policy development, science communication and collective understanding of the causes, impacts and potential solutions for marine crises.