V. V. Andrianov, A. A. Lebedev, N. V. Neverova, L. P. Lukin, T. Ya.Vorobyeva, E. I. Sobko, E. A. Kobelev, T. Yu. Lisitsina, L. A. Samokhina, S. I. Klimov - Long-term environmental impact of an oil spill in the southern part of Onega Bay, the White Sea

BIOLOGIYA MORYA, 2016, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 169-178

Long-term environmental impact of an oil spill in the southern part of Onega Bay, the White Sea

¹Institute of Environmental Problems of the North, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Arkhangelsk 163000;
²FGBU Sevrybvod, Arkhangelsk 163000;
³A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 119071;
⁴Russian Arctic National Park, Arkhangelsk 163000

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Complex studies were conducted in the southern part of Onega Bay (White Sea) in the summer seasons of 2003-2006 and 2011-2013. These studies revealed the dynamics of oil pollution of the water area after a black oil leak in September 2003 and its long-term adverse effects on some links of the trophic chain of the coastal ecosystem (benthos, fish, and sea mammal populations) in the most polluted southeastern part of the bay. Deterioration of the upper trophic level (decrease in numbers of white whales) and accumulation of oil hydrocarbons in tissues of bottom organisms were pointed out.

Key words: Onega Bay, White Sea, long-term oil pollution, pollutant accumulation, benthic organism tissue, nekton status.