Volume I l/Number 8/August 1980

Atlantic. Since 1975, the United States has joined this programme and now the entire North Atlantic is covered by this survey.

Although not presenting a health hazard, a continuing watch needs to be kept on organohalogen levels in hake and sardine along the Portuguese coast in three main areas and also in sole livers in the areas just south of Lisbon. Mercury in cod and herring from the north-west and south-east coasts of Ireland could usefully be monitored. It is also recommended that heavy metals should be checked periodically in mussels in a few areas where there are elevated levels, although at present they do not represent a health hazard.

On the United States Atlantic coast there are some heavily polluted areas, such as New York Bight, and a continuing watch is needed of heavy metals in seafood, but again no samples examined contained levels of heavy metals which present a public health problem.

Record Survival of an Oiled Seabird Although there are many sceptics about the value of cleaning oiled seabirds a number of people in Britain continue to treat casualties, most particularly guillemots. Although it is possible to return apparently healthy birds to sea, there is very little information about what happens to them thereafter. While no news is good news, pessimists have assumed that most die fairly quickly after their release. A recent return of ringed birds gives encouraging news. An oiled guillemot treated at the Wildlife Field Unit of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals near Taunton (see Mar. Pollut. Bull., 1980, 11, 182) was released to sea at Portland on the South coast of England on 22 December 1977 and has now been recovered at Crosshaven, Eire, on 5 April 1980, 2 yr and 4 months later. Ironically it has been oiled again and this time it died. This guillemot is the longest known survivor after cleaning and rehabilitation.

Mystery Killer Fog Hits Vancouver Island A mysterious bank of plant-killing fog rolled in from the Strait of Georgia and struck the central east coast of Vancouver Island between the towns of Campbell River and Courtenay around 25 May 1980. The fog left a swath of shoreline about 100 m long and l0 m wide with dying vegetation. A stand of deciduous and coniferous trees, as well as other vegetation, was affected. Local observers reported on 26 May that the vegetation in this coastal strip suddenly curled up, turned brown and died for no apparent reason. There were no complaints of respiratory or other health problems in the area as a result of the fog.

Samples of dead vegetation have been sent to the laboratories of the British Columbia Ministry of Environ- ment and of the federal Pacific Forest Research Centre in Victoria for analysis. The federal Department of Agri- culture is also conducting some tests.

Krill Treaty Signed Fifteen nations have signed a treaty to conserve the valuable crustacean krill following a meeting held in Canberra.

The thirteen Antarctic Treaty nations and East and West Germany have come to a unique agreement with an 'ecosystem approach' to the management of the region's living resources. The decisions will be based on recommendations that came out of a recent international scientific workshop sponsored by the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition ( A S O C ) - a worldwide group of 88 environmental organisations from 21 countries.

The only major change in the Treaty is the broadening of the amendment system so that any signatory can propose changes, instead of only the Antarctic Treaty powers.

The meeting failed however to establish firm measures on the management of krill harvesting in the period before the Treaty comes into force.

Liverpool Course The fourth training course in Marine Pollution Chemistry to be held in the Department of Oceanography at Liverpool University, England, will begin in January 1981.

The course, designed particularly for graduates from developing countries to assist them take more part in the various pollution programmes organised by the IOC, will last for 6 months at the end of which successful students will be awarded the Diploma in Marine Pollution Chemistry.

Studies will include a basic oceanography course, a guide to the environmental impacts of marine pollutants, analytical chemistry relevant to chemical oceanography, and practical classes.

For further details contact: Dr M. R. Preston, University of Liverpool, Bedford Street North, P.O. Box 147, Liverpool L69 3BX.

Alaska Oil Spill Analysis Risks of oil spills during developments proposed for Kodiak Island off Alaska would be very high, according to a US Geological Survey analysis.

The risk assessment predicted a 65 °70 probability that one or more major oil spills would occur during the 30-yr working lease of the area; a 37-80°7o probability, depending on the location, that a spill would wash ashore within 30 days; and a 43°7o probability that a major oil spill would occur during the 30-yr period and wash ashore within 30 days of its occurrence.

The analysis was prepared to help the US Bureau of Land Management prepare an environmental impact statement for the proposed lease sale of the Island.

Thistle Pipeline Repaired The £5 million repair operation on the ruptured Thistle oilfield pipline in the North Sea has been completed.

The British National Oil Corporation (BNOC) carried out four stages of repairs following the spill of 460 000 gallons

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