In the UK, most marine benthic monitoring is carried out in a piecemeal fashion, funded by different sectors of industry that utilise the marine environment under licence. Monitoring requirements are imposed by licence conditions, which can vary considerably between licences. The UK Government also conducts marine environmental surveys in support of its legislative commitments. The present investigation reviews these different monitoring approaches to highlight whether synergies between them could be developed into an integrated approach to marine benthic monitoring. An integrated approach would have ecological benefits, as greater consistency in sampling and analytical protocols would reduce uncertainty in the predictions of impact, and facilitate the assessment of Good Environmental Status under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. The same approach would also be of financial benefit, as spatio-temporal duplication in sampling would be reduced, and the value of acquired data would be maximised, resulting in a more efficient and cost-effective approach.

Norovirus is detected from shellfish and environmental water more frequently in winter than in other seasons. However, there is no report regarding its viability in actual seawater in situ. We investigated the viability of murine norovirus strain 1 (MNV-1), a surrogate for human norovirus, in 2 types of aquatic locations, a seawater pool carrying oceanic water and inner bay carrying brackish water. Sterilized seawater was inoculated with MNV-1 and enclosed in dialysis tubes, which were placed at the 2 locations. MNV-1 exhibited higher level of viability in brackish than in oceanic water. Factors that influenced the viability of MNV-1 included salt concentration as well as temperature of the seawater. Therefore, based on our findings, coastal brackish water that is routinely used for harvesting or cleaning seafood at fishing ports may promote the viability of norovirus.

Resuspension of surficial sediments is considered a key process influencing bioaccumulation of metals in filter-feeders in the contaminated Sydney Harbour estuary (Australia). However, previous investigations were unable to establish a significant relationship between metals in sediments or suspended particulate matter (SPM) and oyster tissue concentrations. This study used a 60-d laboratory mesocosm experiment to expose Sydney rock oysters, Saccostrea glomerata, to a natural range of SPM concentrations with different SPM-metal concentrations. Dissolved metal concentrations were low and the availability of algae provided as food was constant for all treatments. Tissue metal concentrations of Cu, Pb and Zn increased significantly, however, no relationship was determined between tissue metal concentrations in the oyster and either SPM or SPM-metal concentrations. The results indicated that exposure to resuspended contaminated sediment particles contributed little to the observed metal uptake. Dissolved or algae food sources appear to be more important for metal accumulation in these oysters.

A 96m long sediment core (S10-33) from the Mali Ston Channel (Adriatic Sea) showed large natural variation in carbonate share (between 1% and 95%) and concentration of elements. These variations indicate rather significant changes in fine-grained sediment that was deposited in this area during Younger Pleistocene and Holocene. Unaffected by anthropogenic influence, sediment in the core was used to determine background concentration of trace elements in sediment with various carbonate content. Here we propose a method of the normalization of trace elements to carbonate share, in order to assess natural/background concentration of metals in sediments consisting of carbonates and alumosilicates in various proportions. Six characteristic metals (Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) that were normalized to carbonate share showed very good correlation, with much higher background concentrations in alumosilicate than in carbonate end member. Simple formulas were proposed to easily determine background concentration of these elements, in coastal and shelf depositional environments with mixed carbonate-alumosilicate sediments.

This study aims at constructing an efficient bacterial consortium to biodegrade crude oil spilled in China's Bohai Sea. In this study, TCOB-1 (Ochrobactrum), TCOB-2 (Brevundimonas), TCOB-3 (Brevundimonas), TCOB-4 (Bacillus) and TCOB-5 (Castellaniella) were isolated from Bohai Bay. Through the analysis of hydrocarbon biodegradation, TCOB-4 was found to biodegrade more middle-chain n-alkanes (from C17 to C23) and long-chain n-alkanes (C31–C36). TCOB-5 capable to degrade more n-alkanes including C24–C30 and aromatics. On the basis of complementary advantages, TCOB-4 and TCOB-5 were chosen to construct a consortium which was capable of degrading about 51.87% of crude oil (2% w/v) after 1week of incubation in saline MSM (3% NaCl). It is more efficient compared with single strain. In order to biodegrade crude oil, the construction of bacterial consortia is essential and the principle of complementary advantages could reduce competition between microbes.

Pyrene degradation by Mycobacterium sp. strain A1-PYR was investigated in the presence of nutrient broth, phenanthrene and fluoranthene, respectively. Fast bacterial growth in the nutrient broth considerably enhanced pyrene degradation rate, whereas degradation efficiency per cell was substantially decreased. The addition of nutrient broth could not alter the transcription levels of all dioxygenase genotypes. In the PAH-only substrates, bacterial growth completely relied on biological conversion of PAHs into the effective carbon sources, which led to a higher degradation efficiency of pyrene per cell than the case of nutrient broth. Significant correlations were only observed between nidA-related dioxygenase expression and pyrene degradation or bacterial growth. The highest pyrene degradation rate in the presence of phenanthrene was consistent with the highest transcription level of nidA and 4,5-pyrenediol as the sole initial metabolite. This study reveals that bacterial growth requirement can invigorate degradation of PAHs by regulating metabolic pathway and genotypic enzyme expression.

Floating litter in the estuarine system of Santos-São Vicente is common and is part of day-to-day activities of various users of the area. The objective of the present study was to carry out a quali-quantitative evaluation of the occurrence of floating litter, to infer their sources, and to identify environmental factors that are likely to control occurrence and distribution, with particular emphasis on the effects of tidal regimes. Six sampling stations were selected along the aforementioned estuary and visited monthly between July 2010 and January 2012. Floating litter was counted from a fixed sampling station. Plastics prevailed (89.64%) and their main source was domestic activities (55.41%). More litter was found during ebb spring tides, with higher concentrations obeying confluence patterns of the estuary's channels. Results indicated that occurrence can be attributed to the deficiency in basic sewage system in the area and the deliberate disposal into the estuary by the local population.

Industrial pressures suffered by estuarine zones leave a pollution record in their sediment. Thus, high concentrations of many heavy metals and some organic compounds are often found in estuarine sediment. This work aims to contribute to the enhancement of water quality management strategies in these zones by studying in detail the diffusive processes that take place between the water and sediment using a two-pronged approach: experimental practice and numerical simulation. To provide an example of the practical application of the methodologies proposed in this paper, the Suances Estuary (northern Spain) was selected as the study zone. This estuary exhibits significant historical pollution and its sediment acts as a continuous internal source of zinc, mainly due to diffusive processes derived from the concentration gradient between the interstitial water at the solid particles of the sediment and the bottom of the water column. The experimentally obtained results, based on 6 case studies, demonstrated the buffering capacity of the system and allowed the determination of the required time for the mass transfer processes to reach an equilibrium state. Furthermore, the diffusion rate of zinc was approximately modeled taking into consideration the high concentration variability observed in sediment along the entire estuary. The convergence between the modeled and the experimental results indicated the required contact time to reach an equilibrium state in a real field situation.

Underwater noise, whether of natural or anthropogenic origin, has the ability to interfere with the way in which marine mammals receive acoustic signals (i.e., for communication, social interaction, foraging, navigation, etc.). This phenomenon, termed auditory masking, has been well studied in humans and terrestrial vertebrates (in particular birds), but less so in marine mammals. Anthropogenic underwater noise seems to be increasing in parts of the world's oceans and concerns about associated bioacoustic effects, including masking, are growing. In this article, we review our understanding of masking in marine mammals, summarise data on marine mammal hearing as they relate to masking (including audiograms, critical ratios, critical bandwidths, and auditory integration times), discuss masking release processes of receivers (including comodulation masking release and spatial release from masking) and anti-masking strategies of signalers (e.g. Lombard effect), and set a research framework for improved assessment of potential masking in marine mammals.

From 2011 to 2013, we conducted a full sanitary survey of pollution sources in proximity to a designated shellfish growing area in Korea, and their impact on the sea area therein. From this area, 836 seawater samples and 93 oyster samples were examined to evaluate their bacteriological quality. There were 483 potential pollution sources in the drainage area of the Jaranman-Saryangdo area, including 38 sources discharging water. It demonstrates that while many pollution sources have been identified, no significant impact occurred within the designated shellfish growing area. Variations in fecal coliform (FC) levels in seawater were closely related to rainfall. The FC levels of seawater and oysters from the designated area met the regulation limits set by various countries. Our study indicates that the oysters produced in this area are apparently safe for raw consumption based on their bacterial quality.