RESUMO
This study reports OCP and PAH concentrations in the tissues of stranded sea snakes from Sharjah, UAE. Samples from 10 Hydrophis lapemoides, 2 Hydrophis ornatus and 1 Hydrophis curtus were analyzed. Muscle, liver and fat tissues were extracted using micro-QuEChERs, followed by d-SPE and analyzed using GC/MS. Higher concentrations of OCPs were detected, while PAHs were more frequently detected. Significant correlations suggest that OCPs and PAHs do bioaccumulate in the tissues of sea snakes. Additionally, OCPs with lower log Kow (octanol-water partition coefficient) values were mainly detected in the muscle samples of H. lapemoides, whereas OCPs with higher log Kow values were more commonly present in the liver and fat samples. The concentrations of OCPs reported in this study were higher than those previously documented in other marine reptiles in the UAE or sea snakes from different geographical regions.
RESUMO
Oil spills in the marine environment inflict significant impacts on a wide diversity of marine fauna. Despite the abundance of literature describing these impacts on numerous species, no studies describe the impacts on sea snakes. In this study we report, for the first time, details of an oil spill which caused mass mortality of sea snakes. In this study, 39 sea snake mortalities from the Gulf of Oman, in particular, the coast of Kalba, Sharjah, UAE, were examined. The investigated sea snakes belong to four different species (Hydrophis platurus, H. lapemoides, H. spiralis and H. ornatus). The majority (84.6%) of sea snakes were observed to have oil covering 75-100% of their bodies. The majority (91.4%) of sea snakes were also observed with oil covering their snouts and eyes. A large proportion (25.8, 41.4 and 34.5%) of sea snakes were observed with oil in their mouth, esophagus and stomach.
