Pygmy sperm whales, Kogia breviceps (Kogiidae), are a small cetacean that inhabits Mesopelagic regions near the continental shelf. In this study we present record of plastic ingestion by K. breviceps in Brazil. In August 2010 on the coast of Rio Grande do Sul, a carcass was found showing evidences of interaction with fishing nets. The stomach content was collected for the analysis of food items, but the presence of four plastics weighing 55.9 g was found. In addition, the analysis of food items revealed the presence of the fish Merluccius hubbsi, which is an intensely explored species by fisheries activities in southern Brazil. Merluccius sp. is common in the diet of K. breviceps in several regions of the planet. This work shows that in southern Brazil, K. breviceps suffers intense impact of both ingestion of anthropic material and fisheries, and so must be closely monitored.

A baseline investigation of the chromatographic characterization of phytoplankton pigments with complementing microscopy was conducted in Mahanadi estuary, Chilika lagoon, and coastal waters off Gopalpur along the east coast of India. Marker pigments specific to different phytoplankton groups have been discerned in these contrasting coastal ecosystems. A total of 16 phytoplankton pigments were identified. Irrespective of seasons, Chilika lagoon was characterized by a high concentration of zeaxanthin, indicating the predominance of picocyanobacteria. Zeaxanthin and fucoxanthin were the major diagnostic pigments in Mahanadi estuary during monsoon and other seasons, respectively. In coastal waters off Gopalpur, algal blooms resulted in a higher concentration of fucoxanthin during pre-monsoon and monsoon season. The pigment ratios were comparatively higher for Chilika lagoon than for Mahanadi estuary and off Gopalpur, irrespective of seasons. The present study highlights the advantages of the chromatography technique in identifying small-sized phytoplankton in coastal ecosystems in comparison to conventional microscopy.

Ten sets of experiments with different settling times were conducted to investigate the effect of settling time on the adsorption of ¹³⁷Cs in seawater onto ammonium phosphomolybdate (AMP). The weight yields of AMP and ¹³⁷Cs yields in all groups were generally higher than 90%. The average weight yields of AMP in each group varied from 91.8 ± 0.5 to 95.9 ± 0.6% (1 SD), and the average ¹³⁷Cs yields in each group varied from 88.3 ± 3.0 to 97.8 ± 3.7% (1 SD). The results showed that equilibrium between Cs and AMP is established immediately after the addition of stable Cs carrier and AMP, implying that the solution could be filtered immediately after the coprecipitation forms. IAEA seawater proficiency test exercises also confirmed that the AMP precipitate does not need to be treated statically in the case of 2 g AMP and 3.7 mg Cs carrier in a seawater sample solution. The modified AMP preconcentration method simultaneously meets the requirements of routine and nuclear emergency monitoring of ¹³⁷Cs in seawater.

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) is the piece of legislation with which the EU aims to achieve Good Environmental Status (GES) of its seas. This Directive requires Member States (MSs) to set up and implement Programmes of Measures (PoMs) to achieve this goal. This paper presents a catalogue as well as the analysis of the 535 measures proposed by the eight Mediterranean EU MSs to combat pollution and non-indigenous species and contribute to the GES of the Mediterranean Sea. The results reiterate the need for better coherence and coordination between MSs, also with non-EU countries in the preparation of the next iteration of PoMs. Only 5% of the measures applied have an effect beyond MSs´ marine waters jurisdiction, and a fifth of them lack linkages with any ecosystem component. The results point to gaps, while desired goals and recommendations will help policy makers to implement the and conceptualise measures.

A bacterial consortium immobilized in magnetic floating biochar gel beads is proposed to remove high-molecular-weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The microbial consortium performed better than single strains and consisted of four strains of marine bacteria for degrading pyrene (PYR), two strains for benzo(a)pyrene (BAP), and three strains for indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene (INP), which were isolated from oil-contaminated seawater. The immobilized cells could biodegrade 89.8%, 66.9% and 78.2% of PYR, BAP and INP, respectively, and had better tolerance to pH, temperature and salinity than free cells. The Andrews model was used to explore the biodegradation kinetics, and when the initial concentrations of PYR, BAP, and INP were 7.80, 3.05, and 3.41 mg/L, the specific biodegradation rates reached maximum values of 0.2507, 0.1286, and 0.1930 d⁻¹, respectively. The immobilized microbial consortium had a high HMW-PAH removal ability and good floatability and magnetic properties and could be collected by an external magnetic field.

Forage fish are primary prey for seabirds, fish and marine mammals. Contaminant transfer and biomagnification of the toxic compounds measured in this study likely contribute to elevated levels in Puget Sound, Washington, salmon and killer whale tissues that could be sufficiently high to elicit adverse effects and hamper population recovery efforts. Polychlorinated biphenyls, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, chlorinated pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, alkylphenols, and chlorinated paraffins were detected in all Pacific sand lance tissue samples generally below available health effect levels. Residual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon tissue concentrations near a former creosote site suggest ongoing contaminant exposure. Biomagnification calculations suggest that concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls in some forage fish could result in predator tissue concentrations exceeding effect levels. The emerging contaminants alkylphenols and chlorinated paraffins are first reported here in Puget Sound forage fish, and their frequent detection, high production volumes and endocrine-disrupting properties highlight the need for further study.

Understanding the impacts of plastic pollution is a global research priority. Previous research has shown that plasticizers such as phthalate esters detected in seabird tissues can be useful non-lethal biochemical markers of plastic ingestion as compared with more standard necropsy techniques. We examined the concentrations of six phthalate esters in the preen oil of Northern Fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis) in relation to their retained plastics. Contrary to a previous study, we found that the phthalates examined were not analytically detectable in fulmar preen oil. Given that the birds we examined had up to 100 pieces of plastics in their stomachs, and all uropygial glands were completely emptied during the necropsies, it does not appear that measuring phthalates in preen oil of Northern Fulmars is a useful, non-lethal technique to determine if individuals ingest plastics, at least not currently given the available commercial analytical detection limits.

Global warming is a big concern for all organisms and many efforts have been made to reveal the potential effects of temperature elevation on aquatic organisms. However, limited studies on molecular mechanistic approaches on physiological effects due to temperature changes are available. Here, we investigated the effects of temperature changes on life parameters (e.g., population growth [total number of rotifers], and lifespan), oxidative stress levels and antioxidant activities (e.g., glutathione S-transferase [GST], catalase [CAT], superoxide dismutase [SOD]) with expression levels in the monogonont marine rotifer Brachionus plicatilis. The changes in temperatures led to significant reduction (P < 0.05) in lifespan, possibly due to significant decrease (P < 0.05) in antioxidant activities, reducing the potential to cope with significant elevation in the temperature-induced oxidative stress in B. plicatilis. To further assess the actual induction and clearance of reactive oxygen species (ROS), N-acetyl-L-cysteine was used to examine whether the temperature-induced oxidative stress could be successfully scavenged. Furthermore, expression patterns of the antioxidant-related genes (GSTs, SODs, and CATs) were down- or upregulated (P < 0.05) in response to different temperatures in B. plicatilis. Overall, these findings indicate that ROS-mediated oxidative stress led to cellular damage and antioxidant defense system, resulting in deleterious effects on life parameters in rotifer.

During the summer of 2017 we visited 33 sites with substantial coral cover across Hong Kong waters. At six sites where coral bleaching was observed, video-transect surveys were conducted, which revealed 18.7% to 56.1% bleached colonies and 5.9% to 57.6% bleached coral covered area per site. Mainly affected were three plate-like and three massive coral species. Water quality parameters were analyzed, which indicated that hyposalinity might have triggered the bleaching event. Tagging and follow-up field observation revealed a pattern of recovery depending on coral growth form, with high recovery rates (>93%) at five sites dominated by massive and submassive corals, but moderate (70%) at a site dominated by plate-like corals. Our study shows that the corals of Hong Kong exhibit differential susceptibility to bleaching and ability to recover, therefore it is imperative to establish a long-term monitoring programme to detect the changes in community structure over time.