Significant efforts are invested in field studies using fish, and it is important to optimize the number of organisms collected to evaluate the possible impacts of contamination. This paper provides ecotoxicologists with the approximate numbers of fish needed to identify statistically significant differences among samples using physiological indices and biochemical markers of fish health. The numbers of fish to collect are reported for ethoxyresorufin-o-deethylase (EROD); ethoxycoumarin-o-deethylase (ECOD), serum sorbitol dehydrogenase (sSDH), stress proteins, gonadosomatic index, liver somatic index, condition factor, and biliary metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The number of fish to collect was as few as four for ECOD activity (with a power of 80%), but as high as 106 for CF (with a power of 95%). Achieving statistical significance between sites does not help in the interpretation of the biological significance of a parameter, but well-planned field samplings will maximize the chances of correctly identifying areas of concern.

Tests are made of the conjecture that the platforms in the North Sea are biologically connected, with organisms originating from some platforms reaching and substantially augmenting those at others so that, together, the platforms effectively form a sort of artificial reef. The M₂ tide results in a relatively rapid transfer of organisms between neighbouring platforms. Some 60% of platforms in the southern UK Sector are directly connected by tidal flows. Such connection in the northern Sector is relatively rare, about 23% of platforms being connected. Mean flows connect platforms in ‘strings’ sharing a common streamline spread by turbulent dispersion. Metrics are devised to indicate how well a particular platform is connected to others. Strings are broken when contributions to the concentration of organisms from platforms fall below detection limits. Many platforms are likely to be connected in strings in the southern UK Sector, but relatively few in the northern Sector.

An integrated study was conducted to determine the presence of phenolic and steroid endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), in the marine environment of Thermaikos Gulf, Northern Aegean Sea, Greece. Seawater, suspended particulate matter, sediments and biota were examined for nonylphenol, octylphenol, their mono- and diethoxylate oligomers, bisphenol A, estrone, 17α-estradiol, 17β-estradiol, estriol, mestranol and 17 α -ethynylestradiol. Phenolic compounds were detected in all of the compartments, with nonylphenol and its ethoxylates being the dominant pollutants. The occurrence of nonylphenol in sediments presents a significant risk to the biota. Mussels exhibited relatively low concentrations and low bioconcentration factors for NP and OP. The effect of terrestrial sources of the EDCs on the marine environment is discussed. The influence of suspended particulate matter and organic carbon in the partition of the EDCs between the dissolved and the particulate phase was investigated.

The extent of flood plume water over a 10year period was mapped using quasi-true colour imagery and used to calculate long-term frequency of occurrence of the plumes. The proportional contribution of riverine loads of dissolved inorganic nitrogen, total suspended sediments and Photosystem-II herbicides from each catchment was used to scale the surface exposure maps for each pollutant. A classification procedure was also applied to satellite imagery (only Wet Tropics region) during 11 flood events (2000–2010) through processing of level-2 ocean colour products to discriminate the changing characteristics across three water types: “primary plume water”, characterised by high TSS values; “secondary plume water”, characterised by high phytoplankton production as measured by elevated chlorophyll-a (chl-a), and “tertiary plume water”, characterised by elevated coloured dissolved and detrital matter (CDOM+D). This classification is a first step to characterise flood plumes.

Satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) has been established as a useful tool for detecting hydrocarbon spillage on the ocean’s surface. Several surveillance applications have been developed based on this technology. Environmental variables such as wind speed should be taken into account for better SAR image segmentation. This paper presents an adaptive thresholding algorithm for detecting oil spills based on SAR data and a wind field estimation as well as its implementation as a part of a functional prototype. The algorithm was adapted to an important shipping route off the Galician coast (northwest Iberian Peninsula) and was developed on the basis of confirmed oil spills. Image testing revealed 99.93% pixel labelling accuracy. By taking advantage of multi-core processor architecture, the prototype was optimized to get a nearly 30% improvement in processing time.

Concentrations of Fe, As, Ba, Cd, Cu, Cr, Pb, Mn, Ni, Sn, V and Zn in mud (<63μm size), and total and methyl Hg in gross sediment are reported for Arctic Alaska nearshore. Multivariate-PCA analysis discriminated seven station clusters defined by differences in metal concentrations, attributed to regional variations in granulometry and, as in Elson Lagoon, to focused atmospheric fluxes of contaminants from Eurasia. In Colville Delta-Prudhoe Bay, V increase was noted in 1985 and 1997 compared to 1977, and Ba increase from 1985 to 1997. Presumably the source of increased V is the local gas flaring plant, and the elevated Ba is due to barite accumulation from oil drilling effluents. In Prudhoe Bay, concentration spikes of metals in ∼1988 presumably reflect enhanced metals deposition following maximum oil drilling in 1980s. In summary, the Alaskan Arctic nearshore has remained generally free of metal contamination despite petroleum-related activities in past 40years.

Exposure to pollution and environmental change can alter the behaviour of aquatic animals and here we review recent evidence that exposure to elevated CO₂ and reduced sea water pH alters the behaviour of tropical reef fish and hermit crabs. Three main routes through which behaviour might be altered are discussed; elevated metabolic load, ‘info-disruption’ and avoidance behaviour away from polluted locations. There is clear experimental evidence that exposure to high CO₂ disrupts the ability to find settlement sites and shelters, the ability to detect predators and the ability to detect prey and food. In marine vertebrates and marine crustaceans behavioural change appears to occur via info-disruption. In hermit crabs and other crustaceans impairment of performance capacities might also play a role. We discuss the implications for such behavioural changes in terms of potential impacts at the levels of population health and ecosystem services, and consider future directions for research.

The pharmaceutical residues in waste water from the largest sewage treatment plant (STP) in Northern Taiwan and in seawater around the effluent discharged area were determined. An environmental risk assessment for the marine environment was conducted based on the environment risk quotient (ERQ). The concentrations of the analyzed compounds in STP influent and effluent were generally higher than those found in coastal seawater. Relatively higher values were found at the estuarine mouth and the discharged area, suggesting that the STP effluent is a point source. The removal efficiency and half life of the analyzed compounds were 6.3–46.8% and 3–18days, respectively. The ERQ value theoretical calculation was generally greater than 1. However, when the measured concentrations replaced the predicated concentrations, the ERQ values were considerably lower than 1. Therefore, our results call for a re-evaluation of the risks posed by pharmaceuticals to coastal marine ecosystems in Northern Taiwan.

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the significance of natural radionuclides, particularly ²¹⁰Po, in the marine environment. ²¹⁰Po, a naturally occurring alpha emitter, accumulates in marine organisms and reflects differences in their diets. In the literature, there is no data for ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb activity concentrations for fish species on the Turkish coast of Aegean Sea. Therefore, in this study, multiple fish species were collected from six stations seasonally on the Turkish coast of Aegean Sea and were analyzed for their ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb content. The ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb concentrations in the fish samples were found to vary from undetectable levels to 499±44Bqkg⁻¹ dry weight (dw) and from 1.0±0.3Bqkg⁻¹ to 35±4.0Bqkg⁻¹ (dw), respectively. There were no significant differences in the activity concentrations of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb in fish samples between seasons (ANOVA, P>0.05). The highest dose contribution of ²¹⁰Po to humans was calculated to be 10,530μSvyear⁻¹.