The spatial distributions, fluxes, and environmental effects of non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) were investigated in the Yellow Sea (YS) and the East China Sea (ECS) in spring. The average concentrations of ethane, propane, i-/n-butane, ethylene, propylene and isoprene in the seawater were 18.1 ± 6.4, 15.4 ± 4.7, 6.8 ± 2.9, 6.4 ± 3.2, 67.1 ± 26.7, 20.5 ± 8.7 and 17.1 ± 11.1 pmol L⁻¹, respectively. The alkenes in the surface seawater were more abundant than their saturated homologs and NMHCs concentrations (with the exception of isoprene) decreased with carbon number. The spatial variations of isoprene were consistent with the distributions of chlorophyll a (Chl-a) and Chaetoceros, Skeletonema, Nitzschia mainly contributed to the production of isoprene, while the others’ distributions might be related to their photochemical production. Observations in atmospheric NMHCs indicated alkanes in the marine atmosphere decreased from inshore to offshore due to influence of the continental emissions, while alkenes were largely derived from the oceanic source. In addition, no apparent diurnal discrepancy of atmospheric NMHCs (except for isoprene) were found between daytime and night. As the main sink of NMHCs in seawater, the average sea-to-air fluxes of ethane, propane, i-/n-butane, ethylene and propylene were 31.70, 29.75, 18.49, 15.89, 239.6, 67.94 and 52.41 nmol m⁻² d⁻¹, respectively. The average annual emissions of isoprene accounted for 0.1–1.3% of the global ocean emissions, which indicated that the coastal and shelf areas might be significant sources of isoprene. Furthermore, this study represents the first effort to estimate the environmental effects caused by NMHCs over the YS and the ECS and the results demonstrated contributions of alkanes to ozone and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation were lower than those of the alkenes and the largest contributor was isoprene.

Ballast water transport is considered as one of the major vectors for dispersal of microplastics around the global oceans. In this commentary, a simple, inexpensive solution has been proposed to reduce microplastic pollution and its mobility via ballast water. A screening chamber (with stainless steel three layered mesh) is proposed to be attached to the existing Ballast Water Treatment Systems (BWTSs) in cargo ships to filter back-flushed sea water from BWTSs. The three layered screens (500, 300 and 100 μm) will not only avoid clogging and easy separation of different size groups of microplastic particles but also help in smooth discharge of water to the sea. This technique is expected to remove a large number of microplastic particles (ranging from 0.0015 to 1020 million) from a single voyage. The proposed chamber may help to collect 0.0003–204 metric tons of particles/day, depending upon the geographical location of ballast intake in the global ocean. These estimations were made by considering a daily turnover of 0.033 billion tonnes of ballast water globally. This proposed screening chamber attached to the existing BWTSs in cargo ships, along with other region-specific ocean cleaning initiatives, will help in mitigating microplastic pollution in the global ocean.

The perdurability of plastics in the environment is one of the major concerns of plastic pollution and, as a consequence, oceans are accumulating large amounts of plastic. The degradation of conventional and biobased materials was evaluated through a laboratory experiment for a year simulating four different conditions in the marine environment. The water column environmental compartment was simulated under euphotic and aphotic (with and without light availability) conditions. The seafloor environmental compartment was simulated with sediment under non-polluted and polluted conditions. By combining weight loss (%), spectroscopic and thermal analyses, the degradation patterns regarding the polymer structure were assessed. The studied biobased materials were polylactic acid (PLA) based materials and showed higher degradability than conventional ones. The weight loss of conventional materials was not influenced by the water column or sediment, while in PLA-based materials, the degradation rates were ca. 5 times greater in the sediment than in the water column. The absorbance (Abs) value at 3400 cm⁻¹ for polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and carbonyl (CO) index for PET and PLA could be useful to detect early signs of degradation. The crystallization index could be a useful parameter to discriminate degradation stages. The obtained results highlight the different degradability rates of materials depending on the specific environmental marine conditions.

We utilized volcanic CO₂ vents at Castello Aragonese off Ischia Island as a natural laboratory to investigate the effect of lowered pH/elevated CO₂ on the bioactivities of extracts from fleshy brown algae Sargassum vulgare C. Agardh. We analysed the carbohydrate levels, antioxidant capacity, antibacterial, antifungal, antiprotozoal, anticancer properties and antimutagenic potential of the algae growing at the acidified site (pH ∼ 6.7) and those of algae growing at the nearby control site Lacco Ameno (pH∼8.1). The results of the present study show that the levels of polysaccharides fucoidan and alginate were higher in the algal population at acidified site. In general, extracts for the algal population from the acidified site showed a higher antioxidant capacity, antilipidperoxidation, antibacterial, antifungal, antiprotozoal, anticancer activities and antimutagenic potential compared to the control population. The increased bioactivity in acidified population could be due to elevated levels of bioactive compounds of algae and/or associated microbial communities. In this snapshot study, we performed bioactivity assays but did not characterize the chemistry and source of presumptive bioactive compounds. Nevertheless, the observed improvement in the medicinal properties of S. vulgare in the acidified oceans provides a promising basis for future marine drug discovery.

Fish farming in coastal areas has become an important source of food to support the world’s increasing population. However, intensive and unregulated mariculture activities have contributed to changing seawater carbonate chemistry through the production of high levels of respiratory CO₂. This additional CO₂, i.e. in addition to atmospheric inputs, intensifies the effects of global ocean acidification resulting in localized extreme low pH levels. Marine calcifying macroalgae are susceptible to such changes due to their CaCO₃ skeleton. Their physiological response to CO₂-driven acidification is dependent on their carbon physiology. In this study, we used the pH drift experiment to determine the capability of 9 calcifying macroalgae to use one or more inorganic carbon (Cᵢ) species. From the 9 species, we selected the rhodolith Sporolithon sp. as a model organism to investigate the long-term effects of extreme low pH on the physiology and biochemistry of calcifying macroalgae. Samples were incubated under two pH treatments (pH 7.9 = ambient and pH 7.5 = extreme acidification) in a temperature-controlled (26 ± 0.02 °C) room provided with saturating light intensity (98.3 ± 2.50 μmol photons m⁻² s⁻¹). After the experimental treatment period (40 d), growth rate, calcification rate, nutrient uptake rate, organic content, skeletal CO₃⁻², pigments, and tissue C, N and P of Sporolithon samples were compared. The pH drift experiment revealed species-specific Cᵢ use mechanisms, even between congenerics, among tropical calcifying macroalgae. Furthermore, long-term extreme low pH significantly reduced the growth rate, calcification rate and skeletal CO₃⁻² content by 79%, 66% and 18%, respectively. On the other hand, nutrient uptake rates, organic matter, pigments and tissue C, N and P were not affected by the low pH treatments. Our results suggest that the rhodolith Sporolithon sp. is susceptible to the negative effects of extreme low pH resulting from intensive mariculture-driven coastal acidification.

Despite the ubiquitous and persistent presence of microplastic (MP) in marine ecosystems, knowledge of its potential harmful ecological effects is low. In this work, we assessed the risk of floating MP (1 μm–5 mm) to marine ecosystems by comparing ambient concentrations in the global ocean with available ecotoxicity data. The integration of twenty-three species-specific effect threshold concentration data in a species sensitivity distribution yielded a median unacceptable level of 1.21 ∗ 10⁵ MP m⁻³ (95% CI: 7.99 ∗ 10³–1.49 ∗ 10⁶ MP m⁻³). We found that in 2010 for 0.17% of the surface layer (0–5 m) of the global ocean a threatening risk would occur. By 2050 and 2100, this fraction increases to 0.52% and 1.62%, respectively, according to the worst-case predicted future plastic discharge into the ocean. Our results reveal a spatial and multidecadal variability of MP-related risk at the global ocean surface. For example, we have identified the Mediterranean Sea and the Yellow Sea as hotspots of marine microplastic risks already now and even more pronounced in future decades.

Plastic pollution is among the most pervasive stressors currently influencing the marine environment and affecting even the most remote areas. To date, there are still fundamental gaps in our understanding of the major pathways and fate of plastic debris in the oceans. Here we show that oceanic insular environments are important transitory repositories of small plastic items floating in the open ocean. Monthly monitoring of seven beaches over a three-year period demonstrate that beaches of the Azores islands with particular characteristics can capture significant quantities of fragments between 2 and 5 mm in length. The beach with the highest plastic loading rates was found to occasionally accumulate densities exceeding 15,000 fragments m⁻² on part of the backshore. However, a large portion of these fragments can be rapidly washed back into the marine environment. Detailed characterization of those plastic items revealed the typology and size distribution to be similar throughout the seven beaches and through the 33 months surveyed, suggesting a same and unique source. Our results show that these oceanic islands of the North-East Atlantic are under pressure of high quantities of fragmented plastic debris that probably entered the ocean many years ago.

The Yangtze River, which is the largest in Euro-Asian, receives tremendous anthropogenic nitrogen input and is typically characterized by severe eutrophication and hypoxia. Two major processes, denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox), play vital roles for removing nitrogen global in nitrogen cycling. In the current study, sediment samples were collected from both latitudinal and longitudinal transects along the coastal Yangtze River and the East China Sea (ECS). We investigated community composition and distributions of nosZ gene-encoded denitrifiers by high throughput sequencing, and also quantified the relative abundances of both denitrifying and anammox bacteria by q-PCR analysis. Denitrifying communities showed distinct spatial distribution patterns that were impacted by physical (water current and river runoffs) and chemical (nutrient availability and organic content) processes. Both denitrifying and anammox bacteria contributed to the nitrogen removal in Yangtze Estuary and the adjacent ECS, and these two processes shifted from coastal to open ocean with reverse trends: the abundance of nosZ gene decreased from coastal to open ocean while anammox exhibited an increasing trend based on quantifications of hzsB and 16S rRNA genes. Further correspondence correlation analysis revealed that salinity and nutrients were the main factors in structuring composition and distribution of denitrifying and anammox bacteria. This study improved our understanding of dynamic processes in nitrogen removal from estuarine to open ocean. We hypothesize that denitrification is the major nitrogen removal pathway in estuaries, but in open oceans, low nutrient and organic matter concentrations restrict denitrification, thus increasing the importance of anammox as a nitrogen removal process.

Plastic pollution is prevalent worldwide and affects marine wildlife from urbanized beaches to pristine oceanic islands. However, the ecological basis and mechanisms that result in marine animal ingestion of plastic debris are still relatively unknown, despite recent advances. We investigated the relationship between scavenging behavior and plastic ingestion using green turtles, Chelonia mydas, as a model. Diet analysis of C. mydas showed that sea turtles engaging in scavenging behavior ingested significantly more plastic debris than individuals that did not engage in this foraging strategy. We argue that opportunistic scavenging behavior, an adaptive behavior in most marine ecosystems, may now pose a threat to a variety of marine animals due to the current widespread plastic pollution found in oceans.

Microplastics are a significant issue in the world's oceans. These small plastic particles (<5 mm in size) are becoming globally ubiquitous in the marine environment and are ingested by various fish species. Here we investigate the incidence of microplastics in juvenile Chinook salmon and their nearshore marine environments on the east coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. We completed a series of beach seines, plankton tows and sediment cores in nearshore areas of importance to juvenile salmon. Microplastics were extracted from fish, water and sediment samples and concentrations were quantified. Microplastics analysis, consisting predominantly of fibrous plastics, showed juvenile Chinook salmon contained 1.2 ± 1.4 (SD) microplastics per individual while water and sediment samples had 659.9 ± 520.9 microplastics m⁻³ and 60.2 ± 63.4 microplastics kg⁻¹ dry weight, respectively. We found no differences in microplastic concentrations in juvenile Chinook and water samples among sites but observed significantly higher concentrations in sediment at the Deep Bay site compared to Nanaimo and Cowichan Bay sites. Chinook microplastic concentrations were relatively low compared to literature values and, given the size and type of microplastics we observed, are unlikely to represent an immediate threat to fish in this area. However, microplastics less than 100 μm in size were not included in the study and may represent a greater threat due to their ability to translocate through tissues.