Poole Harbour, Dorset

Fish abundance in water bodies; Nutrient concentrations in sediment pore waters; Concentration of aliphatic hydrocarbons in sediment samples; Concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediment samples; Bacteria generic abundance in sediment

Sediment grabs; gas chromatographs; nutrient analysers

On the 26th of March 2023 a large reservoir fluid spill occurred (totalling 31,000 Litre) from a Perenco pipeline in Poole Harbour, Dorset. This spill spread across the harbour and became particularly concentrated on the marshes of Brownsea Island - a nationally important juvenile fish nursery. This project aims: i) to ascertain the effects of the spill on fish health and nursery ground productivity in 2023/24 based on a BACI design, as we have sampled these and nearby sites in 2022; ii) to collect unique polluted fish tissue samples to the UKs first juvenile bass tissue bank, and an invertebrate tissue bank and associated analysis; iv) to document the spatio-temporal response of the in-situ microbial community, particularly hydrocarbon-degrading microbes. These objectives were integrated into the 2023 field season of several research teams. Building on initial analysis and findings, a proposal will be developed to examine multi-trophic responses to marine oil spills and ecosystem recovery.

British Oceanographic Data Centre
Joseph Proudman Building 6 Brownlow Street
Liverpool
Merseyside
L3 5DA
United Kingdom