Virginia beach fish kill

Virginia beach fish kill

waters, 769-785, IAEA, Vienna. ICRP (1966a), Principles of environmental monitoring related to the handling of radioactive materials. ICRP Publication...

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waters, 769-785, IAEA, Vienna. ICRP (1966a), Principles of environmental monitoring related to the handling of radioactive materials. ICRP Publication 7. Pergamon Press, Oxford. ICRP (1966b). Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (adopted September 17, 1965). ICRP Publication 9. Pergamon Press, Oxford. Kermy, A.W. and Mitchell, N . T . (1970), UK waste disposal policy. Paper IAEA-SM-137162 presented at I A E A / E N E A International Symposium: Developments in

the management of low and intermediate radioactive wastes, Aix-en-Provence, September 1970. Mitchell, N . T . (1967), Radioactivity in surface and coastal waters of the British Isles. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Technical Report FRL 1. Mitchell, N . T . (1968), Radioactivity in surface and coastal waters of the British Isles 1967. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Technical Report FRL 2. Mitchell, N . T . (1969), Radioactivity in surface and coastal waters of the British Isles 1968. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Technical Report FRL 5.

PUBLICATIONS

the area, for example surf clams, blue crabs, barnacles, starfish, flounder, spot, sea-trout, and other game and food fish. The kill was discovered by a commerical fisherman and seems to have taken place between 10 a.m. and 12 noon. Water samples were taken at 2 p.m. and analysed by the Virginia State Water Control Board at Richmond, Virginia, and dead organisms were examined by Dr Brimmer of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at Gloucester Point, Virginia. Tests for pesticides, including chlorinated hydrocarbons and organic phosphates, heavy metals, mercury, arsenic and cyanide, proved negative. The cause of the kill remains unknown. According to a report circulated by the Smithsonian Institution Center for Short-lived Phenomena, the kill was localized and no fish were affected at the Virginia Beach fish pier just outside the area. The kill was confined to a remote area which is not subject to industrial and sewage pollution, and a nearby Navy anti-aircraft base claims that no unauthorized discharge of toxic materials took place there. One possible explanation suggested by Dr Brimmer is that a container of highly toxic material was washed ashore and ruptured on the soapstone outcrops at Virginia Beach, releasing its contents into the sea with these dramatic consequences.

Publications received at Plymouth The following publications relating to oil pollution of the sea have been received by the Librarian of the Marine Biological Association, Plymouth, UK. American Petroleum Institute (1970), 'Proceedings of a J o i n t Conference on Prevention and Control of Oil Spills, sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute and Federal Water Pollution Control Administration, held in New York, December 15-17, 1969'. 'New York, American Petroleum Institute' (Publ. 4040). Baker, J . M . (1970), The effects of oils on plants. 'Environ. Pollut.' 1: 27-44. Bernard, H. (1970), 'Capability of oil recovery devices and craft. Paper presented at the Third J o i n t Meeting, Institute de Ingenieros Quimicos de Puerto Rico and American Institute of Chemical Engineers, San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 17-20, 1970. (mimeograph). Bourne, W. R.P. 1970, Oil pollution and bird conservation. 'Biol. Conserv.' 2: 300-302. Estes, J. E. and Golomb, B. (1970), Oil spills: method for measuring their extent on the sea surface. 'Science,' NY 169: 676-678. Great Britain, Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation. (1954), International Conference on Pollution of the Sea by Oil, held in London, 26 April-12 May, 1954. Final Act of Conference and text of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil. Cmd. 9197. HMSO, London. Haxby, L. P. (1970), An overview of planned and current R & D on oil spill cleanup capability. Paper presented at the Third J o i n t Meeting of the Instituto de Ingenieros Quimicos de Puerto Rico and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 17-20, 1970 (mimeograph). Inter-governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (1970), International legal conference on marine pollution damage, Brussels, 10-29 November 1969. Final act of the conference with attachments including the texts of the adopted Conventions. IMCO, London.

Virginia Beach Fish Kill On 31 August it was discovered that 20,000-50,000 fish and other organisms were killed along 11 km of beach adjoining the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge at Sandbridge in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA. The dead included all species, b o t h invertebrate and vertebrate that occur in 174

CONFERENCES

Pollution in the West Indies A Cultural and Conservation Conference held under the auspices of UNESCO in Jamaica from 29 J u l y to 2 August, 1970, included a section on ecology with special reference to coastal swamplands and coastal pollution. In general the sources of pollution throughout the West Indies are similar to those in other countries, but the economic consequences may often be different. Oil spills in the sea have happily been few, but the Ocean Eagle disaster in San J u a n Harbour, Puerto Rico, illustrated by Dr M. Cerame-Vivas, shows how ill-prepared the islands are for such an event and how prime tourist beaches may be destroyed overnight. Industrial development is proceeding rapidly in the larger islands and outside Jamaica inadequate regulations seem to exist for controlling waste discharge. In Puerto Rico the petro-chemical industry has been a major source of coastal degradation, and the attention of delegates was drawn to the fact that many industries were being set up in the islands under tax-free incentives and in the absence of