Oil spills cause aggressive impacts on marine ecosystems affecting immense areas and the species inhabiting them. If wastes are not cleaned up properly, the remnants may affect local populations for a long time. This work focuses on the long-term impacts of the Prestige spillage that occurred off Galician coast (Spain) in November 2002. Model species were two sympatric flatfish, the megrims Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis and Lepidorhombus boscii. Samples obtained before and nine years after the Prestige accident from affected and unaffected areas were genotyped for six hypervariable nuclear markers and for the mitochondrial D-loop sequence. The results revealed a high proportion of post-F1 interspecific hybrids in the area affected, and also increased intraspecific population differentiation likely due to such localized introgression of foreign genes. These changes suggest the appearance of a hybrid zone following the accident and emphasize the need of paying special attention to potential evolutionary impacts of oil spills.

Bioinvasions are a significant force of change – and economic and ecological threat – in marine ecosystems. The threat now encroaches on Alaska, which has had relatively few invasions compared to other global regions, prompting need to develop new incursion response tools. We appraised five ‘eco-friendly’ immersion treatment options (dilute acetic acid, dilute bleach, freshwater, brine and hypoxia) at either minute- or hour-scale exposures to kill the invasive tunicate Didemnum vexillum. Data revealed 100% treatment efficacy after two minutes in acetic acid, ten minutes in bleach, four hours in freshwater and over four hours in brine solution. We also demonstrated the importance of monitoring D. vexillum recovery for at least three weeks, since seemingly destroyed colonies rebounded during this timeframe. Combined, these findings provide insights towards a bay-scale eradication and post-border management plan applicable to the recent D. vexillum incursion in Whiting Harbor, Alaska and other shallow, inshore invasion sites.

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyl (dl-PCBs) concentrations in Baltic herring (Clupea harengus) have been relatively stable since the mid to late 1990s. It is unclear why concentrations in Baltic herring are not following the observed decreases in other environmental matrices. Here, changes in long-term temporal trends in Baltic herring were examined. A number of biological variables were examined alongside the temporal trends to investigate whether fish biology e.g., growth (length, weight, age), lipid content, reproductive phase or fishing date may provide an explanation for the temporal trends observed.Significant (p<0.05) decreasing trends were observed for PCDD/F toxic equivalents (TEQPCDD/F) at three of the four sites (lipid weight (lw) and wet weight (ww), Swedish west coast lw only); however, other TEQ values e.g., TEQPCDD, TEQPCDF, TEQdl-PCB, TEQPCDD/F+dl-PCB were inconsistent, decreasing at some sites but not others. In the most recent 10years of data, fewer significant decreases were seen overall. Over the examined time period, significant decreases (Bothnian Bay, p<0.01, southern Baltic Proper, p<0.02) and increases (Swedish west coast, p<0.02) in lipid content, growth dilution or lack thereof, and significant changes in age were observed. However herring were not randomly selected which biases this result. Continual efforts to decrease PCDD/F and dl-PCB emissions and to locate/reduce hotspots are necessary, while bearing in mind that herring biology may be impeding faster decreases of these chemicals.

On June 4 and 17, 2011, separate oil spill accidents occurred at two oil platforms in the Bohai Sea, China. The oil spills were subsequently observed on different types of satellite images including SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar), Chinese HJ-1-B CCD and NASA MODIS. To illustrate the fate of the oil spills, we performed two numerical simulations to simulate the trajectories of the oil spills with the GNOME (General NOAA Operational Modeling Environment) model. For the first time, we drive the GNOME with currents obtained from an operational ocean model (NCOM, Navy Coastal Ocean Model) and surface winds from operational scatterometer measurements (ASCAT, the Advanced Scatterometer). Both data sets are freely and openly available. The initial oil spill location inputs to the model are based on the detected oil spill locations from the SAR images acquired on June 11 and 14. Three oil slicks are tracked simultaneously and our results show good agreement between model simulations and subsequent satellite observations in the semi-enclosed shallow sea. Moreover, GNOME simulation shows that the number of ‘splots’, which denotes the extent of spilled oil, is a vital factor for GNOME running stability when the number is less than 500. Therefore, oil spill area information obtained from satellite sensors, especially SAR, is an important factor for setting up the initial model conditions.

Microplastics are present in marine habitats worldwide and laboratory studies show this material can be ingested, yet data on abundance in natural populations is limited. This study documents microplastics in 10 species of fish from the English Channel. 504 Fish were examined and plastics found in the gastrointestinal tracts of 36.5%. All five pelagic species and all five demersal species had ingested plastic. Of the 184 fish that had ingested plastic the average number of pieces per fish was 1.90±0.10. A total of 351 pieces of plastic were identified using FT-IR Spectroscopy; polyamide (35.6%) and the semi-synthetic cellulosic material, rayon (57.8%) were most common. There was no significant difference between the abundance of plastic ingested by pelagic and demersal fish. Hence, microplastic ingestion appears to be common, in relatively small quantities, across a range of fish species irrespective of feeding habitat. Further work is needed to establish the potential consequences.

The possibility of current-driven propagation of contaminants released along a major fairway polluting the Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Gulf of Finland, the Baltic Sea, is examined using a 3D circulation model, a Lagrangian transport model and statistics. Not surprisingly, the number of hits to the MPA decreases almost linearly with its distance from the fairway. In addition, the potential pollution released during a ship accident with the pollutants carried by currents may affect MPAs at very large distances. Typically, a fairway section approximately 125km long (covering about 1/3 of the approximate 400-km-long gulf) may serve as a source of pollution for each MPA. The largest MPA (in the Eastern Gulf of Finland) may receive pollution from an approximately 210-km-long section (covering about 1/2 of the entire length of the gulf). This information may be useful in assisting maritime management.

Present study provides results of trace metal distribution in mangrove sediment cores collected from macro-tidal Khonda and Dudh creeks of Northern Maharashtra coast, India. Most of the metals showed significant higher addition in Dudh creek (core DC) as compared to Khonda creek (core KC). However, Khonda creek sediments did show anthropogenic enrichment of Mn, Zn and Ni, while Dudh creek sediments showed anthropogenic enrichment of almost all the studied metals. Large difference in metal concentration between the two creeks was attributed to their proximity to industries. The higher Mn, Zn and Ni content in Khonda creek was mainly attributed to addition from domestic and agricultural wastes. While high deterioration of Dudh creek sediments was the outcome of addition from industrial effluents.

As implementation of the Ballast Water Convention draws nearer a major challenge is the development of protocols which accurately assess compliance with the D-2 Standard. Many factors affect the accuracy of assessment: e.g. large volume of ballast water, the shape, size and number of ballast tanks and the heterogeneous distribution of organisms within tanks. These factors hinder efforts to obtain samples that truly represent the total ballast water onboard a vessel.A known cell density of Tetraselmis suecica was added to a storage tank and sampled at discharge. The factors holding period, initial cell density and sampling interval affected representativeness. Most samples underestimated cell density, and some tanks with an initial cell density of 100cellsml−1 showed <10cellsml−1 at discharge, i.e. met the D-2 standard. This highlights difficulties in achieving sample representativeness and when applied to a real ballast tank this will be much harder to achieve.

Aqueous concentrations of individual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were determined in coastal sites of two marine protected areas (MPAs), that is, Asinara and the La Maddalena Archipelago, in Sardinia (Western Mediterranean Sea). The use of semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) enabled the detection of dissolved PAHs and PCBs, even in very low concentrations of (pgL−1), in seawater. The results reveal significant differences between the two sampling areas relative to the concentration of the individual PAHs, which provide information concerning the pollution sources affecting relatively pristine environments. The PCBs were generally observed at levels below the detection limits of the utilised method.

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) region of Queensland, Australia, encompasses a complex and diverse array of tropical marine ecosystems of global significance. The region is also a World Heritage Area and largely within one of the world’s best managed marine protected areas. However, a recent World Heritage Committee report drew attention to serious governance problems associated with the management of ports and shipping. We review the impacts of ports and shipping on biodiversity in the GBR, and propose a series of guiding principles to improve the current governance arrangements. Implementing these principles will increase the capacity of decision makers to minimize the impacts of ports and shipping on biodiversity, and will provide certainty and clarity to port operators and developers. A ‘business as usual’ approach could lead to the GBR’s inclusion on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2014.