Trace elements have the potential to bioaccumulate in marine organisms and to biomagnify towards the upper levels of marine trophic webs, resulting in a range of negative effects on organisms. Elasmobranchs are highly susceptible to bioaccumulation of trace metals, while their consumption by humans is increasing worldwide. Therefore, it is important to monitor the trace metal content in the edible tissues of elasmobranchs. This work reveals the content of 12 trace metals in the edible tissues of 10 elasmobranch species caught in Greek waters. Levels above the permissible limits for Hg and Pb were found in some species, while analysis of the lifetime consumption risk for adults and children using the Target Hazard Quotient (THQ), revealed a high risk for two of the most toxic substances on the priority list for substances, namely As and Hg. These are preliminary results, and further research is required to understand better the issue.

The presence and distribution of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) were evaluated in spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) from the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago (Western Atlantic Ocean). Blubber samples (n = 37) were Soxhlet extracted and analyzed using gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The levels of POPs reported in this study are far below those previously reported in spinner dolphins from the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Despite relatively low levels of contaminants, the presence of chemicals represents an additional stressor to these marine mammals, which are subject to increasing anthropogenic pressures, especially regarding tourism activities, in Fernando de Noronha.

The Karnafullly River, which flows through Chattogram and falls into the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh, is vulnerable to microplastic contamination. In this study, we looked at microplastics in the Karnafully River's surface water (5 sites), sediment (9 sites), and biota (4 species). Microplastic concentrations ranged from 0.57 ± 0.07 to 6.63 ± 0.52 items/L in surface water, 143.33 ± 3.33 to 1240 ± 5.77 items/kg dry weight in sediment, and 5.93 ± 0.62 to 13.17 ± 0.76 items/species in biota. A significant difference (P < 0.05) was found in the concentration of MPs in the Karnafully River's sediment, biota, and surface water. High percentage of fiber-shaped and small-sized MPs (<1 mm) were detected throughout the samples. Water and sediment MPs were often transparent/white and blue, whereas biota MPs were mostly black and red, indicating a color preference during biological uptake. The Bay of Bengal received 61.3 × 10⁹ microplastic items per day. The feeding zone of biota influenced the level of microplastics, with a trend of pelagic > demersal > benthic > benthopelagic. Polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate were the most abundant polymer. Using the average fish intake rate in Bangladesh, we computed a possible consumption of 4015–7665 items of MPs/person/year.

The analytical spatial scale and selection of biogeochemical indicators affect interpretations of land-use impacts on coastal marine environments. In this study, nine biogeochemical indicators were sampled from 36 locations of coral reefs fringing a subtropical island, and their relationships with watershed land use were assessed by spatial autoregressive models with spatial weight matrixes based on distance thresholds of a few to 30 km. POM-relevant indicators were associated with agricultural and urban lands of watersheds within relatively small ranges (6–14 km), while the concentrations of inorganic nutrients were associated with watersheds within 20 km or more. The macroalgal δ¹⁵N showed a strong relationship with agricultural lands of watersheds within 7 km and urban/forest lands of watersheds within 24 km. These results demonstrate significant effects of land use on the coral reef ecosystems of the island, and the importance of appropriate combinations of analytical scales and biogeochemical indicators.

Microplastic ingestion was studied in A. aurita, a bloom-forming, circumglobal medusa. Here, we determined whether factors such as the concentration of polyethylene microspheres (75–90 μm) or the absence/presence of prey affect the ingestion, duration of microspheres in the gastrovascular cavity (time of presence), and retention time. The presence of polyethylene microspheres' was determined by exposing medusae during 480 min to three different treatments (5000, 10,000, 20,000 particles L⁻¹), and was checked every 10 min to ascertain whether they had incorporated any. Preliminary results show that microsphere ingestion occurred only in the presence of prey (⁓294 Artemia nauplii L⁻¹). The time of presence of microbeads in A. aurita increased (103, 177, and 227 min), with increasing microplastic concentration, and the microbeads were egested within 150 min. This study initiates the understanding of the potential implications that arise of the encounter between jellyfish and microplastic agglomerates, and with perspectives for future research.

Green tides dominated by Ulva prolifera have be present in the Southern Yellow Sea for 15 consecutive years. They not only damage the marine environment, but also cause economic losses to coastal cities. However, there is still no fully effective approach for preventing green tides. In this article, approaches for the prevention of U. prolifera taken over recent years are reviewed. They can be generally divided into physical, chemical, and biological approaches. Physical approaches have been used to control the overwhelming green macroalgae bloom and inhibit the germination of U. prolifera, including physical salvage approach, refrigeration net technology, improved farming methods and raft technology, and modified clay method. These approaches require significant labor and material resources. Many chemical reagents have been used to eliminate U. prolifera early germination and growth, such as oxidative algaecide, acid treatment, heavy metal compounds, antifouling coating, and alkaloids. Chemical approaches have high efficiency, high economic benefit, and simple operation. Presently, biological control approaches remain in the exploratory stage. The verification of pilot and large-scale experiment results in sea areas is lacking, including the application of large organisms and microorganisms to control U. prolifera, and some of the mechanisms have not been thoroughly studied. This article introduces the three types of approaches, and evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of different methods to facilitate the reduction of the green tide bloom scale in the Southern Yellow Sea.

In this study, we conducted two cruises in the Bohai Bay (China) focusing on phytoplankton community and relation to water quality. The evaluation revealed that most of the open area was non-eutrophic, whereas the river inlet had severe eutrophication. Phytoplankton populations respond differently to different aquatic environments and are controlled by more than two factors, as revealed by aggregated boosted tree analysis. Notably, a shift in the phytoplankton community structure was observed during the seasonal transition, from the dominance of diatoms to the co-dominance of diatoms-dinoflagellates. However, the relative abundance of dinoflagellates increased by 14 % in autumn, when the harmful algae species Akashiwo sanguinea exclusively predominated; this was primarily linked to the nutrient ratios, temperature, and dissolved oxygen. The eutrophication and organic pollution had direct effects on phytoplankton abundance. Overall, our findings may provide further insights into the impacts of eutrophic environments on phytoplankton community structure in coastal systems.

In the past three decades, nuclear energy has gained much attention as carbon-free electricity. Due to the supply of cooling water in nuclear power plant, large amount of waste heat will increase the water temperature, promote the microalgae and cyanobacteria propagation and increase the chance of red tide. Excess phytoplankton of cool source will result in abnormal operation of cooling system, even core overheating and nuclear leakage. Consequently, it is very important to remove microalgae and cyanobacteria from cold source of nuclear power plants. This review summarizes the formation mechanism and monitoring methods of red tide, compares the advantages and disadvantages of traditional microalgae removal technology including physical, chemical and biological methods. Furthermore, the improved electrochemical method and micro-nano bubble method are introduced in detail. Their combination is considered to be a low-cost, efficient and environmentally-friendly technology to prevent and control red tides for cold source of nuclear power plant.

Deposition of tar balls on the Qinhuangdao beaches along the coasts of the Bohai Sea (China) could affect people's leisure activities and tourism, and even affect the marine ecosystem. In 2020, representative tar balls collected from Qinhuangdao beaches, fingerprint analysis based on diagnostic ratios suggested that these tar balls were all very similar and may belong to the same source. Source identification by cross plot and principal component analysis (PCA), showed that the tar balls were likely from Penglai 19–3 crude oil. The weathering characterizations based on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), alkanes parameters and unresolved complex mixture (UCM), indicated that the tar balls had been significantly influenced by natural weathering processes such as evaporation, biodegradation and photooxidation. The study of this leakage provides a powerful support for determining the leakage source, evaluating the potential weathering mechanism and determining the accident liability. This is the first time to use fingerprint technology to identify the source of tar balls in Qinhuangdao coastal zone in the Bohai Sea.