Global warming effects on seaweed beds are already perceptible. Their geographical distributions greatly depend on water temperatures. To predict future geographical distributions of brown alga, Sargassum horneri, forming large beds in the northwestern Pacific, we referred to future monthly surface water temperatures at about 1.1° of longitude and 0.6° of latitude in February and August in 2050 and 2100 simulated by 12 organizations under an A2 scenario of global warming. The southern limit of S. horneri distribution is expected to keep moving northward such that it may broadly disappear from Honshu Island, the Chinese coast, and Korean Peninsula in 2100, when tropical Sargassum species such as Sargassum tenuifolium may not completely replace S. horneri. Thus, their forests in 2100 do not substitute those of S. horneri in 2000. Fishes using the beds and seaweed rafts consisting of S. horneri in East China Sea suffer these disappearances.

In risk assessment of maritime transportation, estimation of accidental oil outflow from tankers is important for assessing environmental impacts. However, there typically is limited data concerning the specific structural design and tank arrangement of ships operating in a given area. Moreover, there is uncertainty about the accident scenarios potentially emerging from ship encounters. This paper proposes a Bayesian network (BN) model for reasoning under uncertainty for the assessment of accidental cargo oil outflow in a ship–ship collision where a product tanker is struck. The BN combines a model linking impact scenarios to damage extent with a model for estimating the tank layouts based on limited information regarding the ship. The methodology for constructing the model is presented and output for two accident scenarios is shown. The discussion elaborates on the issue of model validation, both in terms of the BN and in light of the adopted uncertainty/bias-based risk perspective.

Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) data, Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, and hydro-biological measurements were used to detect two very severe blooms in the southern Caspian Sea in 2005 and 2010. The MERIS Cyanobacteria Index (CIMERIS) was more reliable for detecting cyanobacterial blooms. The CIMERIS and MODIS cyanobacteria indices (CIMODIS) were compared in an effort to find a reliable method for detecting future blooms, as MERIS data were not available after April 2012. The CIMODIS had a linear relationship with and similar spatial patterns to the CIMERIS. On the CIMODIS images, extremely high biomass cyanobacteria patches were masked. A comparison of classified in situ data with the CIMODIS and Floating Algal Index (FAI) from four images of a severe bloom event in 2005 showed that the FAI is a reliable index for bloom detection over extremely dense patches. The corrected CIMODIS, the MODIS FAI and in situ data are adequate tools for cyanobacterial bloom monitoring in the southern Caspian Sea.

Baseline records are crucial in understanding how chemicals of concern impact on the receiving environment. We analysed terrestrial and marine resources from a pristine site on Isabel Island, Solomon Islands, to provide environmental baseline levels for total arsenic and arsenic species composition for commonly consumed marine resources. Our data show that levels of the more toxic inorganic arsenic species were very low or below detectable limits, with the exception of the seaweed Sargassum sp. that contained pentavalent inorganic arsenic levels of 4.63μgg−1. Total arsenic concentrations in the majority of marine and terrestrial samples collected were below 2μgg−1. The less toxic arsenobetaine was the predominant arsenic species present in all marine fauna samples analysed. This work highlights the need for arsenic speciation analysis to accurately assess potential toxicity of marine resources and provides a crucial baseline to assess the impact of future development within this region.

The concentrations of heavy metals and their associated structural deformities in the gills, muscles and hepatopancreas of Scylla serrata from Pulicat Lake were determined and compared with crabs live along Kovalam coast. The concentrations of metals were high in the hepatopancreas and gills of crab from Pulicat Lake, whereas, low in crab from the Kovalam coast. Data were visualized using a principal component analysis (PCA). Significant differences were found for all variables at the plot scale; however, the overall variation was relatively low for muscle tissues in both stations. The structural deformities observed in the gills, hepatopancreas and muscle was due to metal toxicity, and the degree of damage was correlated with the elevated metal concentration. The results showed significant metal accumulation and histo-cytological lesions in the crabs from Pulicat Lake. The results suggest that these biomarkers are useful for assessing the impact of metal pollution in the coastal environments.

We measured Cd and Pb in the muscle and stomach contents of Thunnus albacares and Katsuwonus pelamis to define the distribution of the elements in the tissues and their degrees of biomagnification. 210Po was measured in the livers of both species and compared to the results of similar studies. The trophic position of the tuna species was determined by N isotope measurements. The average activity of 210Po in the liver ranged from 119 to 157 (Bqkg−1 wet weight) in K. pelamis and T. albacares. The trophic position of T. albacares (4.60) was higher than that of K. pelamis (3.94). The Cd content of the muscle increased significantly with the trophic position of the tuna. δ13C in T. albacares and K. pelamis varied, with values of 3.13 and 1.88‰, respectively. The δ15N values in yellowfin tuna were higher than in skipjack tuna. The trophic position of T. albacares (4.60±0.67) was therefore more elevated than that of K. pelamis (3.94±1.06). Pb was biomagnified in T. albacares (transfer factor=1.46).

Previous studies in Chinese coastal waters of the Yellow Sea have shown that periphytic ciliates are reliable indicators of marine water quality. However, traditional community-based bioassessments are time-consuming because they rely on the identification and enumeration of all species within the community. In order to improve bioassessment efficiency, step-best-matching analysis was used to identify which are the most reliable indicator species among periphytic marine ciliate communities. Based on indices of species richness, diversity and evenness, a subset of 48 species (out of a total of 141) was found to retain sufficient information for accurately predicting water quality, and was more strongly related to changes of environmental variables than the full species set. These results demonstrate that the step-best-matching analysis is a powerful approach for identifying an indicator species pool from a full species dataset of a community, and allows the development of time-efficient sampling protocols for community-based marine bioassessment.

The transcriptomes of Zhikong scallop exposed to 17β-estradiol were determined using the Roche/454. A total of 51,997 unigenes, representing 45,030 contigs and 6967 singlets were obtained. And 14,028, 19,798 and 14,981 of these unigenes were annotated from the non-redundant nucleic acid database, non-redundant protein database and Swiss protein database, respectively. A total of 10,699 unigenes were further annotated to biological processes (9080), molecular functions (8692) and cellular components (7829) using the GO, and 8945 unigenes were mapped to biological pathways including the metabolism (2862) and genetic information processing (2263). Most importantly, 16,692 unigenes and 18,686 unigenes in testis, and 10,492 unigenes and 13,186 unigenes in digestive gland were up-regulated significantly after exposure to 50 and 500ngE2/L; while 10,212 unigenes and 9409 unigenes in testis and 10,629 unigenes and 9463 unigenes in digestive gland were down-regulated. These valuable information provides insights into the mechanisms in invertebrate exposure to EDCs.

The spatial and temporal patterns of water quality in Kuwait Bay have been investigated using data from six stations between 2009 and 2011. The results showed that most of water quality parameters such as phosphorus (PO4), nitrate (NO3), dissolved oxygen (DO), and Total Suspended Solids (TSS) fluctuated over time and space. Based on Water Quality Index (WQI) data, six stations were significantly clustered into two main classes using cluster analysis, one group located in western side of the Bay, and other in eastern side. Three principal components are responsible for water quality variations in the Bay. The first component included DO and pH. The second included PO4, TSS and NO3, and the last component contained seawater temperature and turbidity. The spatial and temporal patterns of water quality in Kuwait Bay are mainly controlled by seasonal variations and discharges from point sources of pollution along Kuwait Bay’s coast as well as from Shatt Al-Arab River.

Six sites (two sites for each of rocky shores, sandy beaches, and fishing ports) in northern Taiwan were selected to investigate the amount and density of marine debris in each of the four seasons and after spring and neap tides from 2012 to 2013. The results indicate that marine debris was higher on rocky shores than sandy beaches and fishing ports. There is no significant difference between season and tide. The dominant debris was plastic-type, followed by polystyrene. The majority of debris originated from recreational activities, followed from ocean/waterway activities. The results suggest that the following actions are needed: (1) continue and reinforce the plastic-limit policy; (2) increase the cleaning frequency at rocky shores; (3) promote marine environmental education, with a goal of debris-free coasts; (4) recycle fishing gear and to turn that gear into energy; and (5) coordinate between agencies to establish a mechanism to monitor debris.