The human eye is an excellent, general-purpose airborne sensor for detecting marine debris larger than 10cm on or near the surface of the water. Coupled with the human brain, it can adjust for light conditions and sea-surface roughness, track persistence, differentiate color and texture, detect change in movement, and combine all of the available information to detect and identify marine debris. Matching this performance with computers and sensors is difficult at best. However, there are distinct advantages over the human eye and brain that sensors and computers can offer such as the ability to use finer spectral resolution, to work outside the spectral range of human vision, to control the illumination, to process the information in ways unavailable to the human vision system, to provide a more objective and reproducible result, to operate from unmanned aircraft, and to provide a permanent record that can be used for later analysis.

The microbiological pollution of coastal waters is a major problem, especially in shellfish areas. This article shows the faecal contamination in bivalves from the Ria Formosa Lagoon (south coast of Portugal) along 20years (1990–2009). The highest values of Escherichia coli in bivalves were obtained during the 90s, related with the discharge of untreated wastewaters and agricultural runoff. In the 2000s contamination levels decreased, with 83% of the population already served by new or remodelled sewage treatment plants. The highest levels were found in bivalves close to the largest city, where punctual and diffuse contamination sources still exist. Bivalves from the less impacted site showed the lowest contamination, an area with more water renewal. Seasonally, the highest levels were in autumn and winter, due to the runoff of waters from rainfall. These were opposite to those in spring and summer, when the highest temperatures and salinity showed a bactericidal effect.

A presumed Vibrio parahaemolyticus isolate from Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, USA was previously reported to grow on phenanthrene, a polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) found in crude oil. Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, concerns were raised that PAH-degrading V. parahaemolyticus could increase in abundance, leading to elevated risks of disease derived from shellfish consumption. To assess this possibility, we examined responses to naphthalene and phenanthrene of 17 coastal Louisiana environmental V. parahaemolyticus isolates representing five distinct genotypes. Isolates were obtained immediately after the spill began and after oil had reached the Louisiana coast. None of the isolates grew on or oxidized either substrate and a naphthalene degradation product, 1-naphthol, substantially inhibited growth of some isolates. The use of PAH by V. parahaemolyticus is unusual, and an increase in human health risks due to stimulation of V. parahaemolyticus growth by oil-derived PAH under in situ conditions appears unlikely.

Measures of transport scale in aquatic systems can contribute to the formulation of definitions of indicators of the system’s ecological properties. This paper addresses confinement, a specific transport scale proposed by biological scientists as a parameter that can capture and synthesize the principal properties that determine the spatial structure of biological communities in transitional environments. Currently, there is no direct experimental measure of confinement. In this study, a methodology based on the accumulation rate within a lagoon of a passive tracer of marine origin is proposed, the influences of different factors in the calculation of confinement are analyzed, and general recommendations are derived. In particular, we analyze the spatial and the temporal variability of confinement and its sensitivity to the seasonal variability of climatic forcing, the inputs from rivers and the parameterization of the tidal exchanges. The Lagoon of Venice is used as a case study.

This article assesses the ecological and economic impacts of land reclamation and dredging through consulting recent environmental impact assessment reports. Geographic features of Bahrain during 1963–2008 are produced using Geographical Information System. Extensive but inexpensive shallow coastal areas and tidal flats have been reclaimed particularly from 1997 to 2007 at a high rate of 21km²/year. Formal records show the increase in the original land mass by the year 2008 to be 91km². An estimated total cumulative loss of major habitats resulting from 10 reclamation projects was around 153.58km². Also much larger scale impacts should be considered resulting from the borrow areas used for the extraction of sand or infill materials. A number of key habitats and species are affected in the vicinity of these projects. The study attempts to assign a monetary value to the marine ecosystem functions. There is a need for efficient coastal zone management to regulate a sustainable use of the marine resources.

If sponges are to be effective biomonitors we require a better understanding of the spatial scales over which metals vary in these organisms. We determined how concentration of Cd, Zn, Cu, Pb, Hg and Se varied over four spatial scales for two common estuarine sponge species in the Sydney region. We examined variability with a fully nested sampling design; between coastal lakes, within coastal lakes, between sponges and within sponges. Calculation of variance components confirmed that ‘within-sponge’ variation in Cd, Zn, Cu, Pb and Se concentrations were low (1–14%) relative to the two largest spatial scales (49–98%) examined. In contrast, Hg concentrations exhibited marked variability ‘between-sponges’ and were below detection at one location. There was little evidence that sponge size was a good predictor of metal concentration. Taken together, these outcomes confirm that fragments of these sponges could be successfully transplanted and therefore show promise as biomonitors of metal contamination.

Cultured and native brown mussels (Perna perna Linnaeus 1758) were used to evaluate the contamination by PAHs in the SE Brazilian coastal zone. Mean concentrations of total PAH (38 parental and alkylated compounds) and cluster analysis revealed that: (i) mussel farms (32.7–70.1ngg⁻¹) are located in uncontaminated areas; (ii) coastal rockyshore areas (89.7±25.8ngg⁻¹) have low level of contamination; and (iii) the Guanabara Bay (760.9±456.3ngg⁻¹) is chronically contaminated by hydrocarbons, which is consistent with previous results. PAH profiles and diagnostic ratios suggested mixed petrogenic and pyrolitic sources for group (ii) and petrogenic sources for group (iii). The levels of PAH in the cultured and native mussels are below threshold values for safe food, even in Guanabara Bay, and thus in such cases other contaminants and pathogens should be considered in order to evaluate the quality of shellfish for human consumption.

Little is known about levels or effects of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Hawaiian monk seals (HMS) from the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) subpopulation. This study examined concentrations of a large suite of POPs in blubber and serum of juvenile and adult HMS from the MHI. Adult females have the lowest blubber levels of most POPs, whereas adult males have highest levels. POPs in serum were significantly different in adult males compared with adult females for chlordanes and summed dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs). Lipid-normalized concentrations of chlordanes, DDTs, polychlorinated biphenyls, and mirex in paired blubber and serum samples were significantly correlated. Contaminant levels from the MHI were at similar or lower levels than those from remote Northwestern Hawaiian Island populations. Determining initial ranges of POPs is an important step towards assessing one of the many potential health threats to this critically endangered species.

The published literature on marine pollution monitoring research in South Africa from 1960 to present was evaluated. There has been a general decline in the number of papers from the 1980s and this can be linked to the absence of a marine pollution monitoring programme in South Africa. General trends observed were that contaminant exposure monitoring of metals predominates the research conducted to date. Monitoring results indicate that there has been a general decrease in metal concentrations in South African coastal waters and concentrations of metals and most organics in mussels are lower than in other industrialised nations. This is reflected in the general pristine nature and high biodiversity of the South African coastline. The establishment of a national marine pollution monitoring framework would stimulate marine pollution research.

Oil exposure has been shown to be detrimental to several salt marsh plants however little information is available for Juncus roemerianus. Thirty-two mesocosms were established with J. roemerianus sod and replicate marshes were exposed to Louisiana sweet crude oil to test oil dose (6, 12, and 24Lm⁻²) and weathering (oil weathered for 0days, 3days, and 3weeks). Juncus were monitored following oil exposure for culm survival, photosynthetic rates, and C-assimilation rates. Oil dosage had a significant effect among wetlands with low-dose (6Lm⁻²) mesocosms having higher culm survival, photosynthetic rates, and C-assimilation rates than medium or high dose wetlands (12 or 24Lm⁻²). Oil weathering did not elicit significant differences between treated wetlands however full strength wetlands (un-weathered oil) consistently had the lowest culm survivorship, photosynthetic rates, and C-assimilation rates. From our results, J. roemerianus marshes may be very susceptible to oil exposure.