Microorganisms play an important role in the biodegradation of petroleum contaminants, which have attracted great concern due to their persistent toxicity and difficult biodegradation. In this paper, a novel hydrocarbon-degrading bacterium HZ01 was isolated from the crude oil-contaminated seawater at the Daya Bay, South China Sea, and identified as Achromobacter sp. Under the conditions of pH 7.0, NaCl 3% (w/v), temperature 28°C and rotary speed 150rpm, its degradability of the total n-alkanes reached up to 96.6% after 10days of incubation for the evaporated diesel oil. Furthermore, Achromobacter sp. HZ01 could effectively utilize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as its sole carbon source, and could remove anthracene, phenanthrene and pyrence about 29.8%, 50.6% and 38.4% respectively after 30days of incubation. Therefore, Achromobacter sp. HZ01 may employed as an excellent degrader to develop one cost-effective and eco-friendly method for the bioremediation of marine environments polluted by crude oil.

Ballast water exchange (BWE) is the most efficient measure to control the invasion of exotic species from ships. This procedure is being used for merchant ships in national and international voyages. The ballast water (BW) salinity is the main parameter to evaluate the efficacy of the mid-ocean ballast water exchange. The vessels must report to the Port State Control (PSC), via ballast water report (BWR), where and how the mid-ocean BWE was performed. This measure allows the PSC to analyze this information before the ship arrives at the port, and to decide whether or not it should berth.Ship BW reporting forms were collected from the Captaincy of Santana and some ships were visited near the Port of Santana, located in Macapá (Amazon River), to evaluate the BW quality onboard. We evaluated data submitted in these BWR forms and concluded that the BWE efficacy might be compromised, because data contained in these BWR indicate that some ships did not change their BW. We found mistakes in filling the BWR forms and lack of information. Moreover, these ships had discharged BW with high level of salinity, Escherichia coli and total coliforms into the Amazon River. We concluded that the authorities of the Amazon Region need to develop more efficient proceedings to evaluate the ballast water reporting forms and BW quality, as there is potential risk of future invasion of exotic species in Brazilian ports.

This paper presents a study on black carbon and ionic species concentrations in PM10, sampled from the urban area of Makassar in the Province of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The samples were collected on a weekly basis within a period of one year from February 2012 to January 2013. Results showed that the mean concentration of PM10 black carbon was 2.01±0.93μg/m3, while ionic species concentrations were found in descending order; SO42−>NO3−>Cl−>NH4+, with mean concentrations of 1.44±1.04μg/m3, 1.11±1.06μg/m3, 0.87±0.91μg/m3, 0.49±0.64μg/m3, respectively. Black carbon concentration was higher during the dry months, which may be attributed to uncontrolled biomass burning during hot and dry weather conditions. Similarly, SO42− and NH4+ concentrations were higher during the dry month seasons. On the contrary, Cl− concentration was higher during the wet months, influenced by the marine environment surrounding the area.

The EU is a pre-eminent player in sustainable development, adopting more than 200 pieces of legislation that have direct repercussions for marine environmental policy and management. Over five decades, measures have aimed to protect the marine environment by tackling the impact of human activities, but maritime affairs have been dealt with by separate sectoral policies without fully integrating all relevant sectors. Such compartmentalisation has resulted in a patchwork of EU legislation and resultant national legislation leading to a piecemeal approach to marine protection. These are superimposed on international obligations emanating from UN and other bodies and are presented here as complex ‘horrendograms’ showing the complexity across vertical governance. These horrendograms have surprised marine experts despite them acknowledging the many uses and users of the marine environment. Encouragingly since 2000, the evolution in EU policy has progressed to more holistic directives and here we give an overview of this change.

Polar anthropogenic organic micropollutants are frequently detected in freshwater and discharged on large scale into marine systems. In this work the results of 153 samples collected from the shorelines of the Baltic Sea (Germany), Northern Adriatic Sea (Italy), Aegean Sea and Dardanelles (Greece & Turkey), San Francisco Bay (USA), Pacific Ocean (USA), Mediterranean Sea (Israel), and Balearic Sea (Spain) are presented. The samples were analyzed for various classes of micropollutants such as pharmaceuticals, corrosion inhibitors, biocides, and stimulants. Caffeine, paraxanthine, theobromine, tolyltriazole, 1H-benzotriazole, and atrazine were detected in>50% of all samples. The detection frequencies of carbamazepine, iopamidol, diuron, sulfamethoxazole, paracetamol, theophylline, and atenolol were between 20% and 32%. As caffeine is linked to untreated wastewater, the widespread occurrence of raw sewage in marine environments and thus potentially elevated nutrient concentrations and risk for the presence of wastewater-related pathogens is remarkable.

A one-dimensional wave model was used to investigate the reef top wave dynamics across a large suite of idealized reef-lagoon profiles, representing barrier coral reef systems under different sea-level rise (SLR) scenarios. The modeling shows that the impacts of SLR vary spatially and are strongly influenced by the bathymetry of the reef and coral type. A complex response occurs for the wave orbital velocity and forces on corals, such that the changes in the wave dynamics vary reef by reef. Different wave loading regimes on massive and branching corals also leads to contrasting impacts from SLR. For many reef bathymetries, wave orbital velocities increase with SLR and cyclonic wave forces are reduced for certain coral species. These changes may be beneficial to coral health and colony resilience and imply that predicting SLR impacts on coral reefs requires careful consideration of the reef bathymetry and the mix of coral species.

The sandy deposits from dredging can have negative effects on the environment such as increase in suspended solids in the water column and their consequent transport. An experimental study was conducted to characterize water masses, dynamics, and sedimentation rates on the Ligurian continental shelf (Italy), where both a sand deposit, that could be used for beach nourishment, and a nearby Posidonia oceanica meadow coexist. The environmental plan provides a mathematical simulation of the sediment-dispersion to evaluate the possible impact on the meadow. It has been calculated that the dredging could double the concentration of suspended particles, but its scheduling will preclude a sediment accumulation. All the information obtained from this work will be used to study the environmental feasibility of the sand deposit exploitation and as starting point for drawing up the monitoring plan in case of dredging.

We developed generalised additive mixed models (GAMMs) to infer spatiotemporal trends of environmental PCB concentrations from an extensive dataset (n=1219) of PCB concentrations measured between 1991 and 2010 in sediments of the Belgian Coastal Zone (BCZ) and the Western Scheldt estuary. A GAMM with time, geographical zone, periodicity and the organic carbon – water partition coefficient as covariates explained 49% of the variability in the log transformed PCB sediment concentrations. The time trends unraveled two to threefold PCB concentration decreases in the BCZ during the last 20years. However, in the Western Scheldt estuary, time trends were spatially heterogeneous and not significantly decreasing. These results demonstrate that international efforts to cut down emissions of PCBs have been effective to reduce concentrations in open water ecosystems like the BCZ but had little effect in the urbanised and industrialised area of the Scheldt estuary.

Arctic shipping is on the rise, leading to increased concern over the potential environmental impacts. To better understand the magnitude of influence to the Arctic environment, detailed modelling of emissions and environmental risks are essential. This paper describes a framework for environmental accounting. A cornerstone in the framework is the use of Automatic Identification System (AIS) ship tracking data from satellites. When merged with ship registers and other data sources, it enables unprecedented accuracy in modelling and geographical allocation of emissions and discharges. This paper presents results using two of the models in the framework; emissions of black carbon (BC) in the Arctic, which is of particular concern for climate change, and; bunker fuels and wet bulk carriage in the Arctic, of particular concern for oil spill to the environment. Using the framework, a detailed footprint from Arctic shipping with regards to operational emissions and potential discharges is established.

Organochlorine contaminants in upper trophic-level consumers inhabiting Puget Sound are consistently higher than in those species inhabiting other west coast locations. We analyzed persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the six most common fish prey of rhinoceros auklets breeding on Protection Island (Puget Sound), Tatoosh Island (WA coast), and Destruction Island (WA coast). Wet-weight concentrations of POPs ranged widely (PCBs: 1.6–25.0ng/g; DDTs: 0.2–56.0ng/g; PBDEs:<LOQ-49.0ng/g), but overall patterns showed fish from Puget Sound were 2–4 times more contaminated and had similar contaminant profiles compared to fish from the outer coast. Unexpectedly elevated PCB and PBDE concentrations in Chinook salmon from the outer coast likely reflected Columbia River. Calculating contaminant loads for auklet nestlings magnified differences observed between inland and outer coast fish prey. Monitoring of breeding auklets, their prey and other resident marine birds is needed to assess biomagnification impacts in the Puget Sound marine ecosystem.