Cutting and removal of oil-impacted marsh plants are still used worldwide as a clean-up and recovery technique. To experimentally test the efficacy of cutting and removing marsh plants under subtropical conditions, we simulated an oil spill (Bunker MF-180) in Spartina alterniflora marshes and compared the responses of plant height, biomass, density of culms and number of flowering plants in high and low energy areas in Paranaguá Bay (S Brazil) for about 9months. Cutting and removal were inefficient in promoting or accelerating the recovery of the impacted areas. Cut or uncut impacted marshes fully recovered within 6months, both in low and high energy areas. Plant cutting should be practiced only when there is an effective risk of contamination of groundwater near urban areas, when obvious aesthetical issues are involved in areas of touristic interest or when there are real short-term conservation risks to threatened species.

Several organisms have been used as indicators, bio-monitoring agents or test organisms in ecotoxicological studies. A close relative of the well established Japanese medaka, the Java medaka (Oryzias javanicus), has the potential to be a test organism. The fish is native to the estuaries of the Malaysian Peninsula, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore. In this study, newly fertilised eggs were exposed to different concentrations of Cd and Hg. Observations were done on the development of the embryos. Exposure to low levels of Cd and Hg (0.01–0.05ppm) resulted in several developmental disorders that led to death. Exposure to ⩾1.0ppm Cd resulted in immediate developmental arrest. The embryos of Java medaka showed tolerance to a certain extent when exposed to ⩾1.0ppm Hg compared to Cd. Based on the sensitivity of the embryos, Java medaka is a suitable test organism for ecotoxicology in the tropical region.

The illegal and destructive fishery of date mussels (i.e. the endolithic mollusc Lithophaga lithophaga) reduces the bio-physical complexity of Mediterranean rocky reefs and dramatically impacts biodiversity. Although date-mussel fishermen do not directly impact sea urchins, these echinoids dramatically increase in abundance on rocky reefs impacted by date-mussel fishery (DMF). The recovery of rocky reefs affected by DMF is hampered by the intense unselective grazing of sea urchins on benthic organisms. No evidence is available, however, about the mechanisms that cause the increase in the population density of sea urchins. I demonstrated here that DMF creates a new microhabitat, i.e. the holes left empty after date mussels are extracted, where small-sized sea urchins take refuge and escape predation. This study thus sheds light on a mechanism through which DMF may locally increase sea urchin population density, contributing to maintain the rocks bare on the long term.

We investigated the physical properties of beaches contaminated with plastic fragments. We compared sediment cores from Hawai‘i Island’s Kamilo Beach, notable for plastic accumulation, to cores from a nearby beach. Compared to the nearby beach, Kamilo sediments contained more plastics (up to 30.2% by weight), were coarser-grained, and were more permeable (t-test, p<0.0001). 85% of the fragments were polyethylene, and 95% were concentrated in the top 15cm of the cores. We constructed artificial cores of standardized grain size and varying plastic-to-sediment ratios. Adding plastic significantly increased the permeability (ANOVA, p=0.002), which was partially attributed to the fragments increasing the mean grain size. Sediments with plastic warmed more slowly (16% maximum decrease in thermal diffusivity), and reached lower maximum temperatures (21% maximum increase in heat capacity). These changes have a variety of potential effects on beach organisms, including those with temperature-dependent sex-determination such as sea turtle eggs.

Benthic biofilters were deployed under a cage fish farm and in two reference locations to assess the influence of the farm on the biofilters and the surroundings, as well as to verify the usefulness of this technology as a mitigation tool. The biofilters underneath the farm recruited a fouling community practically identical to that of the control biofilters, which included a variety of trophic strategies. The former showed a higher ¹⁵N enrichment, indicating that fouling beneath the farm was benefiting from the farm waste. The waste retention efficiency was low (0.02gNm⁻²month⁻¹) beneath the farm. Benthic biofilters aggregated demersal wild fish around and within them. Pelagic wild fish also frequently used the biofilters beneath the farm, forming compact shoals around them. The increased complexity of the habitat below the fish farm enhanced biodiversity, but this improvement did not lead to the recovery of the sediments around the biofilters.

Dissolved and particulate Mn and Fe in the nearshore waters were determined at 27 stations along the west coast of Taiwan during 19–23 November 2004. The latitudinal distributions of Mn and Fe were very similar; however, the concentration in the dissolved phase was lower, whereas that in the particulate phase was higher in the northern regime. The higher percentage of Fe than Mn that was associated with particles resulted in a two-order of magnitude higher particle–water partition coefficient for Fe, Kd(Fe), than that for Mn, Kd(Mn). The removal fluxes of Mn and Fe could be estimated by multiplying the particulate ²³⁴Th removal flux with the Mn/²³⁴Th and Fe/²³⁴Th ratios in suspended particles, which ranged from 0.1 to 3.8mmolm⁻²d⁻¹ for Mn, and from 3.4 to 194.5mmolm⁻²d⁻¹ for Fe. Residence times ranged from 1 to 20days for Mn and Fe were estimated in the nearshore.

A comprehensive study aimed at evaluating the occurrence, significance of concentrations and spatial distribution of priority pollutants (PPs) along the Comunidad Valenciana coastal waters (Spain) was carried out in order to fulfil the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). Additionally, PP concentrations were also analysed in the effluent of 28 WWTPs distributed along the studied area. In coastal waters 36 organic pollutants of the 71 analysed, including 26 PPs were detected although many of them with low frequency of occurrence. Only 13 compounds, which belong to four different classes (VOCs, organochlorinated pesticides, phthalates and tributyltin compounds (TBT)) showed a frequency of occurrence above 20% in coastal waters. In the results obtained until now, octylphenol, pentachlorobenzene, DEHP and TBT exceeded the annual average concentration (EQS-AAC), and only TBT surpassed the maximum allowable concentration (EQS-MAC). The most frequent contaminants determined in coastal waters were also present in WWTP effluents.

Recent observations of cetacean mass strandings, coincident with anthropogenic sounds emissions, have raised concerns on the potential environmental impact of underwater noise. Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) was reported in all the cited stranding events. Within the NATO Marine Mammal Risk Mitigation project (MMRM), multiple interdisciplinary sea trials have been conducted in the Mediterranean Sea with the objective of developing tools and procedures to mitigate the impact of underwater sound emissions. During these cruises, visual observations, passive acoustic detections and environmental data were collected. The aim of this study was to evaluate “a priori” predictions of Cuvier’s beaked whale presence in the Alboran Sea, using models developed in the Ligurian Sea that employ bathymetric and chlorophyll features as predictors. The accuracy of these predictions was found adequate and elements are given to account for the uncertainties associated to the use of models developed in areas different from their calibration site.

In remote, tropical areas human influences increase, potentially threatening pristine seagrass systems. We aim (i) to provide a bench-mark for a near-pristine seagrass system in an archipelago in East Kalimantan, by quantifying a large spectrum of abiotic and biotic properties in seagrass meadows and (ii) to identify early warning indicators for river sediment and nutrient loading, by comparing the seagrass meadow properties over a gradient with varying river influence. Abiotic properties of water column, pore water and sediment were less suitable indicators for increased sediment and nutrient loading than seagrass properties. Seagrass meadows strongly responded to higher sediment and nutrient loads and proximity to the coast by decreasing seagrass cover, standing stock, number of seagrass species, changing species composition and shifts in tissue contents. Our study confirms that nutrient loads are more important than water nutrient concentrations. We identify seagrass system variables that are suitable indicators for sediment and nutrient loading, also in rapid survey scenarios with once-only measurements.

Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, located in the Rio de Janeiro City, receives several types of polluted discharges. The knowledge of the sediment microfauna correlated with heavy metal and organic matter concentrations could supply important data about the conditions of the lagoon. The benthic foraminiferal assemblage presented larger diversity and more abundant samples in the lagoon entrance than in the inner area. The Ammonia tepida – Elphidiumexcavatum foraminiferal assemblage is characterized by dwarf, corroded and weak organisms. Agglutinated species were found only near the entrance. Low abundance values and sterility of five samples in the inner area (north/northeast) can be caused by high levels of heavy metals and organic matter. A. tepida shows negative correlation with increasing heavy metals values. PAHs and coprostanol high indexes, and the absence or low presence of microfauna in samples around the lagoon margin confirm illegal flows from gas stations and domestic sewage.