PAHs in high Arctic copepods Calanus hyperboreus following exposure of residues from in situ burning of oil spill.

In situ burning of marine oil spills reduces the total amount of oil in the environment, but a negative side effect may be the generation of environmentally hazardous polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that may pose a risk for bioaccumulation, particularly in organisms having a high lipid content. In this study uptake of PAHs from oil and burn residue were examined in the high arctic copepod Calanus hyperboreus. A major part of the low ring number petrogenic PAHs in the oil was removed during burning and relative higher concentrations of pyrogenic high ring number PAHs was found in the burn residue. This suggests that burning markedly reduces the general PAH exposure load. Furthermore, the pyrogenic PAHs generated during the burn were not bioconcentrated to quantifiable levels in the copepods. We conclude that in situ burning can mitigate the potential risk of PAH uptake for copepods and other pelagic organisms in the marine environment as the pyrogenic PAHs only pose low risk for uptake from the water by the copepods and other pelagic organisms.

Vertical redistribution of principle water masses on the Northeast Greenland Shelf.

The Northeast Greenland shelf (NEGS) is a recipient of Polar Water (PW) from the Arctic Ocean, Greenland Ice Sheet melt, and Atlantic Water (AW). Here, we compile hydrographical measurements to quantify long-term changes in fjords and coastal waters. We find a profound change in the vertical distribution of water masses, with AW shoaling >60 m and PW thinning >50 m since early 2000's. The properties of these waters have also changed. AW is now 1 °C warmer and the salinity of surface waters and PW are 1.8 and 0.68 lower, respectively. The AW changes have substantially weakened stratification south of ~74°N, indicating increased accessibility of heat and potentially nutrients associated with AW. The Atlantification earlier reported for the eastern Fram Strait and Barents Sea region has also propagated to the NEGS. The increased presence of AW, is an important driver for regional change leading to a likely shift in ecosystem structure and function.

Acute oil exposure reduces physiological process rates in Arctic phyto- and zooplankton.

Arctic shipping and oil exploration are expected to increase, as sea ice extent is reduced. This enhances the risk for accidental oil spills throughout the Arctic, which emphasises the need to quantify potential consequences to the marine ecosystem and to evaluate risk and choose appropriate remediation methods. This study investigated the sensitivity of Arctic marine plankton to the water accommodated fraction (WAF) of heavy fuel oil. Arctic marine phytoplankton and copepods (Calanus finmarchicus) were exposed to three WAF concentrations corresponding to total hydrocarbon contents of 0.07 mg l-1, 0.28 mg l-1 and 0.55 mg l-1. Additionally, the potential phototoxic effects of exposing the WAF to sunlight, including the UV spectrum, were tested. The study determined sub-lethal effects of WAF exposure on rates of key ecosystem processes: primary production of phytoplankton and grazing (faecal pellet production) of copepods. Both phytoplankton and copepods responded negatively to WAF exposure. Biomass specific primary production was reduced by 6, 52 and 73% and faecal pellet production by 18, 51 and 86% with increasing WAF concentrations compared to controls. The phototoxic effect reduced primary production in the two highest WAF concentration treatments by 71 and 91%, respectively. This experiment contributes to the limited knowledge of acute sub-lethal effects of potential oil spills to the Arctic pelagic food web.

Bioaccumulation of oil compounds in the high-Arctic copepod Calanus hyperboreus.

Oil and gas exploration in the Arctic will increase the risk for accidental oil spills and thereby have a potential impact on the ecosystem and the organisms inhabiting these areas. Lipid rich copepods are an important food source for higher trophic levels in Arctic marine ecosystems. However, high lipid content and a slower metabolism increase the risk for bioaccumulation in Arctic species. Here we exposed three late development stages of the lipid rich high-Arctic copepod species Calanus hyperboreus to two different 14C-marked crude oil model compounds, the alkane dodecane (log Kow 6.10) and the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) phenanthrene (log Kow 4.46) on a short-term scale of 4days. Exposure was followed by a depuration phase of 3days. We observed a difference in estimated bioaccumulation of the two model compounds between stages and found a slower depuration of dodecane than of phenanthrene in the two largest and most lipid rich stages. However, depuration of dodecane and phenanthrene was non-significant for all three stages. The results indicate that even short-term exposure may result in long-term bioaccumulation and internal exposure of oil compounds in the lipid rich high-Arctic copepods C. hyperboreus. Slow elimination and depuration of oil components indicate a risk for transfer of oil component up the food web to pelagic fish, seabirds and baleen whales.

Ecotoxicological investigation of the effect of accumulation of PAH and possible impact of dispersant in resting high arctic copepod Calanus hyperboreus.

Due to high lipid content and a slow metabolism, there is a higher risk of bioaccumulation of oil compounds in Arctic than in temperate copepods. There is also a concern that the bioavailability of oil compounds is higher when oil is dispersed with dispersants. The purpose of this project was to increase the knowledge on how the use of dispersants on an oil spill may affect the passive uptake of PAHs in resting high arctic copepods using Calanus hyperboreus as a model organism. To evaluate this, resting high arctic C. hyperboreus were caught in Disko Bay at>250 meters depth, November 2013, and subsequent experimental work was initiated immediately after, at nearby Arctic Station at Disko Island Western Greenland. C. hyperboreus females were incubated in phenanthrene (111, 50 and 10 nM), pyrene (57, 28 and 6 nM) and benzo(a) pyrene (10, 5 and 1 nM) for three days in treatments with and without oil (corn oil) and dispersant (AGMA DR372). After exposure, the highest measured concentrations of respectively phenanthrene, pyrene and benzo(a) pyrene in the copepods were 129, 30 and 6 nmol PAH g female(-1). Results showed that with addition of oil and dispersant to the water, the accumulation of PAH was significantly reduced, due to the deposition of the PAHs in the oil phase, decreasing the available PAHs for copepod uptake. While PAH metabolites and a depuration of the PAHs were observed, the copepods still contained PAHs after 77 days of incubation in clean seawater. Differences of treatments with and without oil and dispersant on the egg production were not statistically conclusive, although it is the most likely an effect of the highly variable day-to-day egg production between individual copepods. Equally, although there was an indication that the addition of dispersant and oil increased the mortality rate, there was no statistical difference.

Heterogeneous distribution of plankton within the mixed layer and its implications for bloom formation in tropical seas.

Intensive sampling at the coastal waters of the central Red Sea during a period of thermal stratification, prior to the main seasonal bloom during winter, showed that vertical patches of prokaryotes and microplankton developed and persisted for several days within the apparently density uniform upper layer. These vertical structures were most likely the result of in situ growth and mortality (e.g., grazing) rather than physical or behavioural aggregation. Simulating a mixing event by adding nutrient-rich deep water abruptly triggered dense phytoplankton blooms in the nutrient-poor environment of the upper layer. These findings suggest that vertical structures within the mixed layer provide critical seeding stocks that can rapidly exploit nutrient influx during mixing, leading to winter bloom formation.

Dangerous Relations in the Arctic Marine Food Web: Interactions between Toxin Producing Pseudo-nitzschia Diatoms and Calanus Copepodites.

Diatoms of the genus Pseudo-nitzschia produce domoic acid (DA), a toxin that is vectored in the marine food web, thus causing serious problems for marine organisms and humans. In spite of this, knowledge of interactions between grazing zooplankton and diatoms is restricted. In this study, we examined the interactions between Calanus copepodites and toxin producing Pseudo-nitzschia. The copepodites were fed with different concentrations of toxic P. seriata and a strain of P. obtusa that previously was tested to be non-toxic. The ingestion rates did not differ among the diets (P. seriata, P. obtusa, a mixture of both species), and they accumulated 6%-16% of ingested DA (up to 420 µg per dry weight copepodite). When P. seriata was exposed to the copepodites, either through physical contact with the grazers or separated by a membrane, the toxicity of P. seriata increased (up to 3300%) suggesting the response to be chemically mediated. The induced response was also triggered when copepodites grazed on another diatom, supporting the hypothesis that the cues originate from the copepodite. Neither pH nor nutrient concentrations explained the induced DA production. Unexpectedly, P. obtusa also produced DA when exposed to grazing copepodites, thus representing the second reported toxic polar diatom.

Induction of domoic acid production in the toxic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia seriata by calanoid copepods.

The toxic diatom Pseudo-nitzschia seriata was exposed directly and indirectly (separated by a membrane) to copepods, Calanus hyperboreus and C. finmarchicus, to evaluate the effects of the copepods on domoic acid production and chain formation in P. seriata. The toxicity of P. seriata increased in the presence of the copepods. This response was chemically mediated without physical contact between the organisms suggesting that it was induced by potential waterborne cues from the copepods or changes in water chemistry. Domoic acid production may be related to defense against grazing in P. seriata although it was not shown in the present study. To evaluate if the induction of domoic acid production was mediated by the chemical cues from damaged P. seriata cells, live P. seriata cells were exposed to a P. seriata cell homogenate, but no effect was observed. Chain formation in P. seriata was affected only when in direct contact with the copepods. This study suggests that the presence of zooplankton may be one of the factors affecting the toxicity of Pseudo-nitzschia blooms in the field.

Evaluating pyrene toxicity on Arctic key copepod species Calanus hyperboreus.

Calanus hyperboreus is a key species in the Arctic regions because of its abundance and role in the Arctic food web. Exploitation of the off shore oil reserves along Western Greenland is expected in the near future, and it is important to evaluate the acute and chronic effects of oil emissions to the ecosystem. In this study C. hyperboreus females were exposed to concentrations of 0, 0.1, 1, 10 and 100 nM pyrene and saturated concentrations measured to ~300 nM. Daily quantification of egg and faecal pellet production showed significant decreases in the pellet production, while the egg production was unaffected. The hatching success was also unaffected, although the total reproductive output was reduced with increased pyrene concentrations. Accumulation of pyrene in the copepods was higher in feeding than starving females and only trace amounts of the phase I metabolite 1-hydroxypyrene, were found. Lowered reproductive output, reduced grazing, and reduced ability to metabolize pyrene suggest that oil contamination may constitute a risk to C. hyperboreus recruitment, energy transfer in the food web and transfer of pyrene to higher trophic levels.