THE BAHIA LAS MINAS OIL-SPILL - HYDROCARBON UPTAKE BY REEF BUILDING CORALS
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abstract
We report the analyses of hydrocarbons in the tissues of reef building corals, reef sediments and seawater samples collected in September 1986 as part of the initial impact assessment of a major oil spill in Panama. The patterns of gas chromatograms indicated the oil residues were highly modified in comparison with the oil spilled only 5 months before: volatile fractions and predominant n-alkanes were missing. Oil levels in corals from the heavily oiled areas were 25-50 mg g-1 lipid as measured by UV fluorescence, while corals in control sites showed nearly non-detectable levels (0.1 mg g-1). Oil concentrations correlated with coral mortality rates as measured by decrease in area coverage. Concentrations of petroleum hydrocarons in reef sediments were also elevated in areas of high oiling (393 g g-1 dry wt) compared to control areas (0.1 g g-1). High concentrations of oil in seawater surrounding the contiguous mangroves (5-29 g I-1) imply that leaching of oil from heavily oiled sediments will provide a source of contamination to the coral communities for an unknown time in the future. Modifications in the protein/lipid ratios of coral tissues were evident in these preliminary data indicating that oiling affected the lipid biochemistry of the surviving corals. 1989.
