Declines in oil-rates of stranded birds in the North Sea highlight spatial patterns in reductions of chronic oil pollution

Strandings of oiled seabirds are used to signal the problem of chronic oil pollution. Species-specific oil rates reflect the risk for marine birds to become oiled at sea. High oil rates were characteristic for seabirds common in areas with frequent oil spills; low oil rates for birds wintering away from the busiest shipping lanes. Declining trends in oil-rates were found, reflecting a reduction in the amount of oil intentionally discharged over the past 50 years. Spatial patterns in the risk to become oiled could be identified, when the winter distribution patterns of the affected birds were incorporated in the analysis. Declines in oil rates were most pronounced in coastal birds. These trends were consistent with tendencies to police nearshore waters more effectively than offshore waters. While levels of chronic oil pollution are much reduced, future emphasis should be to reduce chronic oiling more effectively in offshore waters.     

Temperature affects the timing of spawning and migration of North Sea mackerel

Climate change accentuates the need for knowing how temperature impacts the life history and productivity of economically and ecologically important species of fish. We examine the influence of temperature on the timing of the spawning and migrations of North Sea Mackerel using data from larvae CPR surveys, egg surveys and commercial landings from Danish coastal fisheries in the North Sea, Skagerrak, Kattegat and inner Danish waters. The three independent sources of data all show that there is a significant relationship between the timing of spawning and sea surface temperature. Large mackerel are shown to arrive at the feeding areas before and leave later than small mackerel and the sequential appearance of mackerel in each of the feeding areas studied supports the anecdotal evidence for an eastward post-spawning migration. Occasional commercial catches taken in winter in the Sound N, Kattegat and Skagerrak together with catches in the first quarter IBTS survey furthermore indicate some overwintering here. Significant relationships between temperature and North Sea mackerel spawning and migration have not been documented before. The results have implications for mackerel resource management and monitoring. An increase in temperature is likely to affect the timing and magnitude of the growth, recruitment and migration of North Sea mackerel with subsequent impacts on its sustainable exploitation.     

Identification of the environmentally safe fairway in the South-Western Baltic Sea and Kattegat

Application of the preventive techniques for the optimisation of fairways in the south-western Baltic Sea and the Kattegat in terms of protection of the coastal regions against current-driven surface transport of adverse impacts released from vessels is considered. The techniques rely on the quantification of the offshore domains (the points of release of adverse impacts) in terms of their ability to serve as a source of remote, current-driven danger to the nearshore. An approximate solution to this inverse problem of current-driven transport is obtained using statistical analysis of a large pool of Lagrangian trajectories of water particles calculated based on velocity fields from the Denmark’s Meteorological Institute (DMI)/BSH cmod circulation model forced by the DMI-HIRHAM wind fields for 1990–1994. The optimum fairways are identified from the spatial distributions of the probability of hitting the coast and for the time (particle age) it takes for the pollution to reach the coast. In general, the northern side of the Darss Sill area and the western domains of the Kattegat are safer to travel. The largest variations in the patterns of safe areas and the properties of pollution beaching occur owing to the interplay of water inflow and outflow. The gain from the use of the optimum fairways is in the range of 10–30?% in terms of the decrease in the probability of coastal hit within 10?days after pollution release or an increase by about 1–2?days of the time it takes for the hit to occur.     

Environmental dynamics and conservation of the flamingo in the vicinity of Greater Tunis,Tunisia: the case study of Sebkha Essijoumi

The flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber roseus frequents Mediterranean wetlands. In recent decades, the population of this species has increased significantly in the Mediterranean region, despite the reclamation of many wetlands. The increase is thought to reflect the opportunistic behaviour of flamingos. They visit some sites more frequently than others in response to human activities such as organic pollution, conservation measures and better management of breeding areas on the northern side of the Mediterranean. Tunisian wetlands are major wintering and nursery habitats for the flamingo that in very wet years can also become important breeding areas. These areas can support up to half the population of the western Mediterranean, which is estimated at around 80 000 to 90 000 birds. To demonstrate the changes in the wintering population in Tunisia, the key site of Essijoumi, which has up to 25 000 wintering flamingos, was selected as a case study area. It has been shown that Essijoumi, an urban wetland in Tunis, has changed from a hypersaline to a brackish waterlogged site for most of the year. The change can be traced to the recent urban extension of Tunis which led to a water balance surplus due to increased runoff and decreased agricultural land in the catchment area. Organic pollution is playing a major role in the nutrification of water resources leading to better feeding habitats. This, in turn, has influenced the distribution of flamingos and the carrying capacity of the wetland. Increased water depth to about 3 m has made the northern part of Essijoumi inaccessible. However, the southern and eastern parts of this wetland have become more attractive to flamingos and to a diversity of waterfowl. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Eutrophication—The future marine coastal nuisance?

Increased inputs of nutrients to marine coastal areas over the last decades have created a basis for eutrophication of the waters surrounding Sweden. In combination with relatively low water exchange in these vertically stratified and almost non-tidal waters, local and regional effects of increased macro-algal biomass, and decreased oxygen concentrations in bottom water leading to mortalities of benthic animals and decreased fish catches have at times been observed. The effects were first noted in the Baltic, but are now obvious also in Swedish and Danish coastal areas in the Kattegat and the Belt Sea. Similar symptoms have recently also been recorded off the Danish North Sea coast. Other shallow coastal and shelf areas, where stratification occurs, can be regarded as potentially eutrophic risk areas.     

Environmental monitoring in a gas production area on the northwestern Black-Sea shelf

The results of long-term seasonal oceanographic observations conducted by YugNIRO from 1955 to 1991 in standard cross-sections on the northwestern shelf of the Black Sea and data obtained by monitoring oil and chemical pollution of the marine environment from 1987 to 1993 in the area of gas deposit development are systematized and statistically treated. The oceanographic conditions of pollution field formation in this region are studied. The dynamics and distribution of total concentrations of oil products and microelements (Hg, Cu, Pb, Cd, and Cr) in water and bottom sediments are examined in the areas in Karkinitskii Bay where permanent offshore platforms are operated. The obtained results are compared with data on the background environmental pollution of the Black Sea and World Ocean. A hypothesis is offered to elucidate the possible causes and mechanisms through which offshore gas production affects the hydrochemical conditions on the shelf. The monitoring data are said to be a necessary information basis for the prediction of pollution dynamics in Karkinitskii Bay with the use of a box-type hydroecological model of petroleum hydrocarbon biotransformations in water, and approaches for the use of these data for this purpose are outlined.     

Impacts by heavy-oil spill from the Russian tanker Nakhodka on intertidal ecosystems: recovery of animal community

The impact of a heavy-oil spill from the Nakhodka on an intertidal animal community, and the recovery process of animals from the damage were surveyed from the autumn of 1997 to the spring of 2001. The field study was carried out in the rocky coast of Imago-Ura Cove, located along the Sea of Japan, where clean-up operations for oil pollution had been conducted less intensely than in other polluted areas. We have examined individual number of each animal taxon by continuously placing a quadrat of 5 m width along the entire intertidal zone of the cove. A total of 76 invertebrate taxa including 57 species of mollusks, 10 species of crustaceans were observed during the survey. The number of taxa increased from 1998 to 1999 in areas where the initial oil pollution was intense. Total individual number of benthic animals continued to increase from 1998 to 2000 in the polluted areas. The impact of oil on benthic animals was different from species to species. Some species such as Cellana toreuma and Monodonta labio confusa increased rapidly after the oil spill, whereas other species such as Patelloida saccharina lanx and Septifer virgatus did not show any apparent temporal tendencies. Population size structure of P. saccharina lanx varied greatly among years, however that of M. labio confusa did not. For P. saccharina lanx, recruitment was unsuccessful in 1997, possibly due to the effect of oil pollution. These differences in responses to oil pollution among benthic animals are considered to be caused by the differences in habitat use, susceptibility to heavy-oil, life history and migration ability. The findings suggest that it took at least 2-3 years for the intertidal animal community to recover to its original level after the oil spill.     

鄱阳湖水位变化对候鸟栖息地的影响

鄱阳湖越冬候鸟保护最重要的环节是保护栖息地,候鸟栖息地的面积和空间分布随水位过程而变化.在分析认定鄱阳湖湿地景观分类中水陆过渡带及其上下摆动区(稀疏草滩区和浅水区)为越冬候鸟主要栖息地的基础上,选择不同水位的遥感影像资料,经解译定量分析不同水位水陆过渡带面积及其空间分布,从而分析不同水位条件对候鸟柄息地的影响.进而分析...     

鄱阳湖夏季极端水位条件下越冬水鸟多样性、空间分布及其保护对策

鄱阳湖是我国最大的淡水湖,也是具有国际意义的候鸟越冬地. 近年来,鄱阳湖水文情势异常使得候鸟越冬环境更加复杂. 本文以2020年鄱阳湖出现夏季极端水位为背景,基于2019和2020年鄱阳湖越冬水鸟同步调查数据,探讨了夏季极端水位对越冬水鸟丰富度和空间分布的影响. 研究结果表明：夏季极端水位条件下鄱阳湖越冬水鸟的总数量、群落结构和优势物种组成相对稳定,水鸟数量由597307只下降至572358只,主要是鸭科、鸥科、鹳科、鸬鹚科和鹮科鸟类数量明显下降;食块茎、食种子和食鱼集团水鸟数量均有所下降. 水鸟的整体空间分布格局变化不大,主要栖息地仍为鄱阳湖保护区和上饶湿地的碟形湖及人控湖汊,越冬水鸟向人工湿地扩散加剧. 2019年在人工湿地主要记录到灰鹤926只、白鹤3只;2020年则记录到白鹤2215只、灰鹤7294只、白头鹤88只、白枕鹤378只、豆雁550只、鸿雁3100只、灰雁3200只和小天鹅1543只. 2020年冬季人工湿地中的越冬水鸟数量比2019年增加显著. 鄱阳湖夏季极端水位导致沉水植物群落崩溃,造成植食性水鸟在天然湿地中的越冬食物短缺,从而导致种群空间分布格局出现明显变化,这也是鹤类和雁类水鸟前往人工湿地觅食的主要原因. 因此,在夏季洪水频发的背景下加强人工湿地管理,是当前解决越冬水鸟天然湿地食物资源短缺的重要措施.     

Fate of drilling waste discharges and ecological risk assessment in the Egyptian Red Sea: an aquivalence-based fuzzy analysis

Egypt is located in the Northeast of Africa where oil and gas (O&G) are produced offshore from the Gulf of Suez and the Southeast part of the Mediterranean. The O&G production in Egypt is distributed as follows: 70% from Gulf of Suez, 16% from Western desert, 8% from the Sinai Peninsula and 6% from Eastern desert. Past O&G activities, refining and transport have resulted in chronic pollution in Egyptian offshore and numerous environmental programs have been initiated to protect new development areas from the environmental impacts. The offshore drilling process uses drilling fluids (mud) and generates waste fluids and cuttings, which could be the largest discharges going into the receiving water bodies. There are several options to manage offshore drilling wastes: offshore discharge, offshore down-hole injection and onshore disposal. Water-based drilling fluids (WBF) are commonly employed for drilling in Egyptian offshore because of their expected environmental benign behavior. The main objective of this paper is to develop a methodology to determine the fate of heavy metals associated with WBF drilling waste in the marine environment and estimate the associated ecological risks. Proposed contaminant fate model is based on an aquivalence approach, which has been integrated with fuzzy-based analysis to study the uncertainties. This research concluded that the impacts of heavy metals associated with the drilling waste discharges in the receiving waters are minimal.     

Variation in mercury content of Guillemot feathers over 150 years

The feathers of 277 Black, Common and Brünnich's Guillemot from the Baltic, Kattegat, Faroe Islands and Greenland were analysed for mercury. The levels were found to be higher in the Baltic and the Kattegat compared to the Faroe Islands and Greenland. While the levels were almost constant for the last two areas a substantial increase during this century was found for the Baltic and the Kattegat. In Common Guillemots from the Baltic a decrease was indicated after 1969. In general the mercury levels were higher for Black Guillemots living close to the coast compared to the Uria sp. living off-shore. The inhomogeniety of the mercury load near the shore was indicated by a large individual variation within a colony of Black Guillemots. This variation was reinforced by differences in migration and feeding habits. It has been shown by analysis of individuals recaptured during successive years that the year to year variation of one individual is considerably smaller.It is concluded that chronological series based on feathers from sea birds and museum collections may contribute to the elucidation of the long term trend of mercury pollution at sea.     

Concentrations of Scottish seabirds vulnerable to oil pollution

The diving birds most vulnerable to oil pollution normally appear to concentrate in areas of tidal mixing indicated by the development of cooler surface water temperatures offshore. This is not always a reliable guide to their location because they move about with the weather, however, and a survey needs to be made at the time of each incident. The most hazardous situation occurs when sustained onshore winds drift first the birds and then the oil against the coast.     

Survey of tar,hydrocarbon and metal pollution in the coastal waters of Oman

Quantitative beach sampling conducted after the S. W. monsoon season yielded average standing stocks of tar ranging from 5 to 2325 g m^?1 of shoreline with overall average of 224 g m^?1. Values are among the highest reported for any world area and show a trend of increasing levels of oil residues close to the Strait of Hormuz. Data support the premise that tanker deballasting is a major source of oil pollution on the Omani coast. Locally high levels were seen near offshore tanker loading facilities. Petroleum hydrocarbons in rock oysters increased in a south to north gradient consistent with beach tar observations. But relatively low hydrocarbon levels in biota coupled with observations of very little floating tar suggests that oil released in Omani coastal waters aggregates, sinks, and reaches the coast as heavy tar lumps. Except for elevated levels of Cd at two stations, heavy metal and chlorinated hydrocarbon concentrations were low compared to more industrialized world areas. Suggestions are made to improve the effectiveness of future pollution studies in the Gulf Region.     

Light-induced bird strikes on vessels in Southwest Greenland

Light-induced bird strikes are known to occur when vessels navigate during darkness in icy waters using powerful searchlight. In Southwest Greenland, which is important internationally for wintering seabirds, we collected reports of incidents of bird strikes over 2-3 winters (2006-2009) from navy vessels, cargo vessels and trawlers (total n = 19). Forty-one incidents were reported: mainly close to land (<4 km, 78%), but one as far offshore as 205 km. Up to 88 birds were reported killed in a single incident. All occurred between 5 p.m. and 6 a.m. and significantly more birds were involved when visibility was poor (snow) rather than moderate or good. Among five seabird species reported, the common eider (Somateria mollissima) accounted for 95% of the bird casualties. Based on spatial analyses of data on vessel traffic intensity and common eider density we are able to predict areas with high risk of bird strikes in Southwest Greenland.     

鄱阳湖越冬雁类时空分布特征及热点区域识别

鄱阳湖是东亚—澳大利西亚迁徙路线上重要的水鸟越冬栖息地,雁类是迁徙路线上的优势种群。然而,近年来迁徙路线上的雁类种群数量有所下降,识别越冬地雁类时空分布特征,确定分布热点区域是科学、精准保护的前提。本研究利用2018—2021年越冬期在鄱阳湖区域开展的共58次水鸟调查数据,提取了基于时间序列的白额雁(Anser albifrons)、豆雁(Anserfabalis)、鸿雁(Anser cygnoid)的分布数据,分析了3种雁类在越冬地的种群动态、时间和空间分布动态,评估了鄱阳湖各子湖的重要性,确定了雁类分布热点区域。研究结果表明,3种雁类在越冬地的种群数量表现出一定的年际波动,雁类种群总数量维持在27.9万～44.8万只;不同雁类迁徙的时间节律存在差异,本次地面调查数据显示白额雁、豆雁、鸿雁分别是在10月初至11月初、11月中旬、12月中旬到达鄱阳湖,其中鸿雁到达最晚;高峰期集中在11月底至次年2月初,持续时间约为100天;3种雁类分别在2月中旬、2月底和3月中旬开始迁离鄱阳湖。3种雁类空间分布范围有所差异,豆雁分布范围最广,白额雁分布相对集中,高峰期雁类的分布范围最大,对子湖的利用强...     

Plasmid incidence in marine bacteria isolated from petroleum polluted sites on different petroleum hydrocarbons

Oil-degrading bacteria isolated from oil spills, an industrial bay, and an offshore oil field by liquid enrichment on crude oils and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon compounds were screened for extra-chromosomal DNA. Plasmids were detected in 21% of the strains isolated on whole crude oil and in 17% of the strains isolated on polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. Multiple plasmids were observed in 50% of the plasmid-containing strains. Pseudomonas was the predominant genus isolated during the study. Plasmids do not appear to be of importance to these strains during degradation of freshly introduced oil at a nonpolluted site such as might be the case in an ocean oil spill. Plasmids do appear to be significant in the adaptation of Pseudomonas species to chronic petroleum pollution.     

我国海洋测井技术回顾与展望

地球物理测井是利用各种现代物理学的方法（包括电学、声学、核物理、热学、光学、磁学、力学等）对储层空间的油气水特性、沉积环境、地层层序、构造地质等现象进行定量研究，逐步形成的一门理论性、实用性很强的边缘学科．海洋测井作业环境更为特殊而复杂，不但投资大、作业风险大，而且具有技术高度密集、技术难度大的特点．发展海洋石油勘探事业，必须加强对海洋测井技术的研究，利用现代高新科学技术，开拓海洋测井新领域，为海洋石油勘探提供更丰富、更准确的地质信息．     

Anthropogenic nutrient load of the Baltic Sea

The discharge of nutrients is investigated in relation to their sources and effects in two case studies. The reduction of 47% in the phosphorus load from Denmark to marine areas between 1989 and 1993 has resulted in significantly lower phosphorus concentrations in most Danish coastal waters, and tendency to decrease can be seen in the Belt Sea and Kattegat as well. No general changes in nitrogen concentrations have been observed. This is due to the fact that more than 80% of the nitrogen load in Danish waters originate from diffuse agricultural sources.In the Pomeranian Bight strong nutrient gradients are generated by the mixing of Odra river water and coastal water. The spreading of the river plume could be exactly observed especially in winter, when biological activity is low. In general, different types of distribution, transport and modification patterns can be described.The annual input of nutrients from the catchment area to the Baltic Sea was estimated to be around 1000 kt N and 46 kt P. As a result, winter concentrations of phosphate and nitrate are characterized by positive overall trends in the surface layer in all subregions of the Baltic Proper for the period 1969 to 1993. These trends stem mainly from the strong increase in the 1970ies and early 1980ies. Thereafter, the concentrations of both nutrients fluctuate strongly around a high level. The drastic decrease in fertilizer consumption since the late 1980ies mainly caused by the great economic changes in the countries of the former East Bloc is not yet significantly reflected in decreasing winter concentrations, but first signs already have been found in the decrease in averaged phosphate concentrations in winter, especially in the Arkona and Bornholm Seas.     

美国API RP2A-WSD规范对我国海洋石油平台抗震设防的启示

我国尚未制定海洋石油平台的抗震设计规范,目前世界海洋油气行业的抗震标准主要执行的是美国RP2A—WSD规范,该规范是基于是美国近海岸地震危险性区划结果而制定．本文介绍了RP2A-WSD规范及美国近海岸地震区划研究结果,论述了我国渤海海域地震活动性特性与地震动参数的研究内容,渤海海域是我国海洋石油开发的主要场所,且地震活动性较高,与美国南加利福尼亚近海岸具有可比性,然后对两者进行对比分析,并依据两者之间的对比结果,以及海洋石油平台的重要性和使用特征,对我国海洋石油平台的抗震设防标准和设防水准提出建议。     

Danish seabird disasters in 1972

In recent years the Danish Game Biology Station has studied casualties to seabirds from oil pollution. 1972 was a particularly disastrous year and preliminary information on the events are given here. Very large losses of seabirds have been caused by quite small spillages of oil.