Aug 27, 2016

Lethal effects of Atlantic Salmon smolt exposure to aluminum-rich acidic waters - peer reviewed studies suggest similar conditions prevail at Penobscot River mouth.

Below, read a variety of scientific reports on the mortality of Atlantic salmon smolts exposed to acidified freshwater, brackish water and/or saltwater contaminated with dissolved aluminum. About Salmon smoltification

There is a general consensus among the scientific community that exposure of Maine salmon smolts to pulses of low pH water carrying dissolved aluminum triggers premature smoltification.
The culprit appears to be accumulation of gill surface aluminum, "leading to substantial alterations in gill morphology, reduced gill Na+/K+-ATPase (NKA) activity, and impaired ion regulation in both freshwater and seawater."

Are Penobscot River's Atlantic Salmon declines due at least in part to such acid/aluminum-rich water pollution in Stockton Harbor since the 1950s in harbor waters entering the mouth of Penobscot River. There on Stockton Harbor's Kidder's Point, acid, sulfur and aluminum wastes have eroded, leached and plumed into the southwest end of the harbor whose connection with abandoned sulfuric acid, fertilizer and alum production complex on the harbor's Kidder Point. Tests since the 1980s document these conditions.

Consensus on adverse impacts.

The impact of this mixture of acid sulfur and aluminum on Atlantic salmon smolts has been well documented since at least the late 1980s by researchers in the USA, Canada, Norway and elsewhere.

Topical Searches

* Google Scholar Aluminum + estuarine
* Google scholar: aluminum + estuary +Maine
* Pub Med search on estuarine and aluminum

ALUMINUM - ACID - ATLANTIC SALMON Listed by date.

* Water Chemistry and Atlantic Salmon Physiology. Source: Northeast Fishery Science Center 2015

* Recovery of Atlantic salmon smolts following aluminum exposure defined by changes in blood physiology and seawater tolerance in Aquaculture 362–363:232-240 · April 2012

Physiological, molecular and cellular mechanisms of impaired seawater tolerance following exposure of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, smolts to acid and aluminum 2010 UMass Amherst. Published in Aquatic Toxicology 99 (2010) 17–32

Trace metals in different Atlantic salmon (Salmosalar L.) organs from the River Storelva catchmentarea. 2009

* Migratory behaviour and survival rates of wild northern Atlantic salmon Salmo salar post-smolts: effects of environmental factors. 2009

* http://www.penbay.net/pb_upper/stocktonhbr/gac_hist/gac_dep_031698_history.jpg

* Impacts_of_short-term_acid_&_aluminum_exposure_ on_Atlantic_ salmon_Salmo_salar_physiology_A_direct_comparison_of_parr_and_smolts Aquatic Toxicology 86(2):216-26 · February 2008

* Exposure_to_moderate_acid_water_and_aluminum_reduces_Atlantic_salmon_post-smolt_survival December 2007

* Effect of aluminum on fish in acidic waters. A term paper submitted to
The Department of Ecology and Natural Resource Management (INA)
Agricultural University of Norway, 2004

* Effects_of_episodic_acidification_on_Atlantic_salmon_Salmo salar_smolts 2003

* Aluminium in acidic river water causes mortality of farmed Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L.) in Norwegian fjords 2003

* Low concentrations of inorganic monomeric aluminum impair physiological status and marine survival of Atlantic salmon Frode Kroglund, Bengt Finstadb 31 October 2002,

* Effects of Acidity and Aluminum on the Physiology and Migratory Behavior of Atlantic Salmon Smolts in Maine, USA J. A. Magee, T. A. Haines, J. F. Kocik, K. F. Beland, S. D. McCormick, Water, Air, and Soil Pollution: Vol 130, Issue 1, pp 881–886 August 2001,

Other species

* Bioavailability and toxicity of aluminium in a model planktonic food chain (Chlamydomonas–Daphnia) at neutral pH P. Quiroz-Vázqueza, D.C. Sigeeb, K.N. Whiteb, 2010 1997 Jun;37(1):30-6.

* 2005

*Toxicity of acid-sulfate soil leachate and aluminum to embryos of the Sydney Rock oyster.1997

* Toxicity of acid-sulphate soil leachate and aluminium to the embryos and larvae of Australian bass (Macquaria novemaculeata) in estuarine water. 1997

* Chronic effects of low ph and elevated aluminum on survival, maturation, spawning and embryo-larval development of the fathead minnow in soft water 1989

Watershed scale & chemistry studies of aluminum & acids' bio-impacts

* A sulfur-stable-isotope-based screening tool for assessing impact of acid sulfate soils on waterways. Kieryn Kilminster A D and Ian Cartwright B C 2011

Human exposure to aluminum US ATDSR 2008

Seasonal and spatial distribution of metals in surface sediment of an urban estuary. 2008

* Canadian Water QualityGuidelines for the Protection of Aquatic Life: Aluminum 2003

* Behaviour of aluminium and iron in acid runoff from acid sulphate soils in the lower Richmond River catchment Angus Fergusonl & Bradley Eyre J Austral Geology & Geophysics, 17(5/6), 193- 201 1999

* Acidification of an estuarine tributary in eastern Australia due to drainage of acid sulfate soils J Sammut, 1996. I White and MD Melville Marine and Freshwater Research 47(5) 669 - 684 1996

* Acidification signals in estuarine sediment cores Per Kristian Egeberg Agder College, Tordenskjoldsgt. 6 5, 4604 Kristiansand, Norway 1995

END

The mega challenge of marine microplastics: getting them off Mother Nature's menu.

Crustacean larvae full of plastic microbeads

Microplastics and larger plastic bits in saltwater or fresh are problematic for the fish, birds, crustaceans, bivalves and other organisms that ingest them. How do we keep plastic out of their diets?

Recent research suggests that the key attraction of the plastic bits to fishes, birds and invertebrates is the flavor/odor of the biofilm of bacteria that has colonized these plastic particles as solid habitats.

Like other organisms, bacteria eat and breathe and emit wastes andsignaling chemicals. Those emissions are attractive to animals from protozoa to invertebrates and vertebrates, who treat the plastic particles as though they were mini-wontons or micro- matzo balls.

Since we won't be training Mother Nature to avoid plastic, and we aren't likely to stop manufacturing and using the stuff any time soon, can we make plastic unattractive to microbes?

Plastic makers have been required to tweak their products chemistry to protect public health, so it is not impossible to require plastic people to make their stuff unattractive to marine bacteria, or freshwater ones.

Pastic-filled bird carcass & plastics taken from it

But that raises more questions:
While you _could_ add an antibacterial to the plastic, the ubiquity of the plastic bits in the bays and seas is such that you would be filling the water column with antibacterial chemical-emitting particles - specifically geared toward repelling or killing natural marine or freshwater bacteria that live there.

That's not a good way to go.. How else to make plastic unappealing to marine bacteria?

Aug 22, 2016

Bigelow Lab scientist Nick Record speaking on marine microbes, Penobscot Bay and the Gulf of Maine AUDIO

On Thursday August 18, 2016 Dr. Nick Record of the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences gave a presentation on the marine microbiology of Penobscot Bay and the Gulf of Maine and the impacts of climate change upon them.

This presentation took place at Waterfall Arts, in conjunction with "Tiny Giants: Marine Microbes Revealed on a Giant Scale" a traveling photographic exhibit on display there.

Full talk - 1hr 19min

Introduction by Martha Piscuskas of Waterfall Arts & Nick Record 2min 45sec