The waters of the Cres–Lošinj archipelago are subject to intense boat traffic related to the high number of leisure boats frequenting this area during the summer tourist season. Boat noise dominates the acoustic environment of the local bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) population. This study investigates the spatial and temporal change in the underwater noise levels due to intense boating, and its effect on the distribution of the bottlenose dolphins. In the period 2007–2009 sea ambient noise (SAN) was sampled across ten acoustic stations. During data collection the presence of leisure boats was recorded if they were within 2km of the sampling station. Bottlenose dolphin spatial distribution was monitored in the same period. Results showed a strong positive correlation between high SAN levels and boat presence, particularly in the tourist season. Dolphin distribution indicated significant seasonal displacements from noisy areas characterized by the intense leisure boating.

Many studies have investigated phototoxicity under controlled laboratory conditions, however, few have actually demonstrated it occurring in environmental samples. Here we report on the potential for UK marine coastal waters to demonstrate phototoxicity when tested using the oyster embryo (Crassostrea gigas) bioassay in the presence UV light. Subsurface water, sea surface microlayer samples and subsurface water samples that had been extracted through solid phase extraction (SPE) columns were analysed. Results demonstrated that the majority of samples failed to display any phototoxic potential. However, those collected from Belfast Lough did display an increase in toxicity when bioassays were performed in the presence of UV light when compared to identical samples assayed in the absence of UV light. Analysis of water samples at this location identified known phototoxic PAHs, pyrene and fluoranthene. These findings suggest the need to consider the potential UV light has when determining the toxicity of environmental samples.

EU ocean policies increasingly incorporate regional measures. Under the long standing Common Fisheries Policy, such measures aim at improving and reforming existing policy, either by taking into account region specific social or ecologic requirements or by establishing procedures and institutions to achieve a regional fit. By contrast, the EU’s emerging integrated Marine Environmental Policy was designed to draw heavily on regional procedural and institutional mechanisms from the outset. The developing regional measures raise the question whether they contribute to improving institutional structures governing the use and conservation of EU waters. This article analyzes the existing and future regional measures of the two policies and their varying purposes and scopes. It develops a typology for categorizing the regional aspects and examines the effects of regional measures on EU institutions and the theoretical EU integration debate.

Investigations on setting benthic macroinvertebrates reference conditions in natural waters have increased recently. Under the European Water Framework Directive, importance is given to research in morphological heavily-modified water bodies (HMWBs), which are very common in countries with high human pressure. However, research has not been undertaken on setting the maximum ecological potential (MEP), as a reference in HMWB. The objective of the present investigation is to set the MEP of two metrics (diversity and richness), used in assessing the ecological status in different benthic indices. The Oiartzun estuary (Basque Country) is used as a case study, which changed morphologically in the 19th Century, following harbour construction. Data obtained from 1874 and the present were used to model changes in currents, water residence time, salinity, volume, and intertidal area. Benthic macroinvertebrate data, from 1995 to 2011, were used to predict 19th Century and present MEP. Changes in the estuary were described: loss of all of the intertidal areas; doubling of the volume; residence time, changing from 2 to 95days; current velocity reduced by 50%; salinity increase. All these factors have led to changes in the benthic communities and the structural variables. Predicted richness and diversity, for 1874, were lower (48–76%) than those at present. Taking into account the differences between natural and modified waters, it is proposed to utilize 75% of the natural reference conditions, as the MEP values for Basque HMWB.

The objectives of this study were to (i) assess trace metal concentrations in Hydrilla verticillata and sediment from an estuarine creek in Alabama (USA), where high metal levels in biota were previously reported, and (ii) investigate the relationship between metal concentrations in H. verticillata and the sediment compartment. Our results indicate that sediment and H. verticillata exhibit moderate metal concentrations in the study area. We found that levels in plant tissues can be up to five times higher than in the sediment (e.g., Cd), suggesting that H. verticillata can take up and store several trace metals (Cd, Hg, Ni, and Zn) from this compartment. Together with studies focused on the uptake and accumulation of trace metals from the surrounding water, laboratory- and field-based studies are needed to better evaluate this plant’s ability to acquire metals from the sediment that constitutes a contaminant sink in human-impacted coastal regions.

This study is one of several baseline studies that will provide basic and reliable information about the content of undesirable substances in important species of fish caught in Norwegian waters. Concentrations of metals in the muscle and liver of more than 800 Northeast Arctic cod caught at 32 sites in the Barents Sea are reported. The highest concentration of both mercury in the muscle and cadmium in the liver was found in cod caught in the western part of the Barents Sea, while the highest concentration of total arsenic was found in cod from the eastern part. The arsenic concentrations varied greatly among individual fish, ranging from 0.3 to 170mgkg−1 wet weight in the muscle. Such high levels of total arsenic have never previously been reported in any fish, and the primary factor for these high concentrations is likely to be the shrimp in the cod diet.

As part of a continuing toxic microalgae monitoring program, phytoplankton samples were collected on 16–17 August 2012 at several sampling sites in the southern part of the Bahía de La Paz. A bloom of the dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides was detected. Abundance of C. polykrikoides ranged from 73 to 276×103cellsL−1 on the first day to 980–1425×103cellsL−1 on the second day. Study of live specimens showed great variation in cell size and form, mainly as single cells or chains of two cells. Live cells were 30–47μm long and 20–35μm wide (n=30). Seawater temperature during the bloom was 29–30°C. Low densities of Cochlodinium convolutum, Cochlodinium helicoides, and Cochlodinium shuettii were also found in the samples of the bloom event. These high densities of C. polykrikoides did not lead to fish die-offs in the bay.

Birds are often the most numerous vertebrates damaged and rehabilitated in marine oil spills; however, the efficacy of avian rehabilitation is frequently debated and rarely examined experimentally. We compared survival of three radio-marked treatment groups, oiled, rehabilitated (ORHB), un-oiled, rehabilitated (RHB), and un-oiled, non-rehabilitated (CON), in an experimental approach to examine post-release survival of surf scoters (Melanitta perspicillata) following the 2007 M/V Cosco Busan spill in San Francisco Bay. Live encounter-dead recovery modeling indicated that survival differed among treatment groups and over time since release. The survival estimate (±SE) for ORHB was 0.143±0.107 compared to CON (0.498±0.168) and RHB groups (0.772±0.229), suggesting scoters tolerated the rehabilitation process itself well, but oiling resulted in markedly lower survival. Future efforts to understand the physiological effects of oil type and severity on scoters are needed to improve post-release survival of this species.

The Bay of Bakar is one of the most heavily polluted bays at the Eastern Adriatic. Three major industrial companies potentially endanger the bay. The concentration of major, minor and trace elements in surface sediments from thirteen stations was discussed in relation to the sediment type and foraminiferal assemblages. The distribution of major elements in the bay is influenced by geological nature of surroundings. Heavy metal distribution depends on pollution sources and on amount of mud fraction: fine-grained sediments are enriched by them in comparison with coarse-grained ones. Different sediment quality criteria complicate the pollution assessment in the bay. Heavy metal concentrations generally fall into allowed depositional values for marine environments; only area in front of the coke plant and the City of Bakar harbor is heavily polluted. Stress-tolerant foraminiferal species dominate at stations with higher concentrations of heavy metals and coarse-grained sediments consist of larger number of epifaunal taxa.

To investigate the upwelling influence on Hg biogeochemical cycles and the sedimentological changes during the previous ∼150years, four sediment box-cores were sampled along an inshore offshore transect on the Southeastern Brazilian continental shelf. Mercury values were found to be relatively low, with means ranging between 8.08 and 30.4ngg−1. Mercury fluxes along the sediment cores are directly related to the well documented historical regional activity and global atmospheric deposition. The narrow relationship between mercury and organic carbon suggest that upwelling phenomenon and primary production may play an important role on Hg input and distribution along continental shelf depositional settings.