O ambiente marinho é o destino final de muitos contaminantes, como os PAHs, PCBs, DDTs e HCHs, que têm sido detectados em vários compartimentos do ambiente marinho, podendo trazer efeitos deletérios para o ecossistema. O objetivo deste trabalho foi a avaliação da contaminação por hidrocarbonetos alifáticos, PAHs, PCBs, DDTs e HCHs através da análise de 15 amostras de sedimento, 6 de mexilhão e 11 de fígado de peixe. Para isso, foi otimizada uma mesma metodologia para todas as matrizes bióticas. A amostragem foi feita ao longo da costa do estado do Rio de Janeiro, no período de 1996 a 1998, durante o Programa de Monitoramento do Ambiente do Meio Ambiente Marinho, promovido pela Marinha do Brasil. Os controles de qualidade analítica e confiabilidade dos dados gerados seguiram os padrões internacionais. A metodologia utilizada foi considerada satisfatória para análise dos organismos e sedimentos, de acordo com a avaliação feita através da análise de materiais de referência certificados. Os PCBs e DDTs apresentaram o fenômeno da magnificação com concentrações crescentes: sedimentos < mexilhões < peixes. Os HCHs apresentaram as maiores concentrações nos mexilhões. Os hidrocarbonetos alifáticos apresentaram concentrações similares nas três matrizes amostradas, o mesmo ocorrendo com os PAHs. As concentrações de hidrocarbonetos do petróleo indicam que as maiores introduções são próximas às áreas urbanas. Os PCBs e pesticidas também foram detectados em grande parte das amostras, mas em baixas concentrações. A fonte desses OCs para o ambiente marinho pode ser oriunda de outras regiões devido ao transporte e à deposição atmosférica. A comparação entre as matrizes mostrou a importância da análise simultânea de sedimentos e organismos em função da concentração de cada grupo de compostos e sua diferente acumulação. / The marine environment is the final recipient of many organic compounds that are widely found in seawater, sediments and organisms. The purpose of this study was the assessment of the contamination of aliphatic hydrocarbons, PAHs, PCBs, DDTs and HCHs through the analyses of 15 sediments, 6 mussels and 11 fish livers. The same methodology was optimized for biotic matrices. The sampling was performed from 1996 to 1998 along the Coast of the State of Rio de Janeiro, during the Brazilian Navy Environmental Monitoring Program. Quality assurance and quality control followed the international procedures. The methodology give satisfactory results in accord with the analyses of certified standard reference materials. Data of PCBs and DDTs from different matrices revealed increasing concentrations: sediment < mussel < fish. HCHs prevailed in mussels. Data of aliphatic hydrocarbons and PAHs were similar between sediments and organisms. Levels of petroleum hydrocarbons showed major inputs near the urban areas. PCBs and chlorinated pesticides were detected in the majority of samples but in low levels. These inputs can be attributed to long-range atmospheric transport. Comparison among the sampled matrices showed the importance of simultaneous analyses of sediments and organisms based in the concentration of each group of compounds and their different accumulations.

A qualidade das águas marinhas destinadas a recreação de contato primário pode ser afetada por fontes de poluição pontuais e não pontuais. Escherichia coli é membro comensal da microbiota intestinal de humanos e animais endotérmicos e quando presente no ambiente marinho indica contaminação fecal recente. Embora a maioria das cepas desta espécie não seja patogênica para o homem, existem isolados virulentos e/ ou resistentes aos antibióticos. E.coli pode ser caracterizada em grupos filogenéticos - GF (A, B1, B2, C, D, E, F e clado I) e em categorias diarreiogênicas (ETEC, EPEC, EHEC, EIEC, EAEC e DAEC). Este trabalho objetivou caracterizar 99 isolados de E.coli obtidos de amostras água do mar de três regiões costeiras do estado de São Paulo com diferentes níveis de contaminação [Ubatuba (UBA), oligotrófico (n=20); Baixada Santista (BS), eutrófico (n=30) e canal de São Sebastião (CSS), mesotrófico (n=49)], frente à susceptibilidade aos antibióticos, GF, genes associados à virulência (GAV) e assim estimar os riscos microbiológicos à balneabilidade dos locais de coleta. A susceptibilidade a ampicilina (AMP), amoxicilina- ácido clavulânico (AMC), amicacina (AMI), cefotaxima (CTX), cefuroxima (CRX), ciprofloxacino (CIP), cloranfenicol (CLO), imipenema (IPM), piperacilina-tazobactam (PPT), sulfametoxazol-trimetropima (SUT) e tetraciclina (TET) foi determinada pelo método de disco difusão. A classificação em GF foi realizada por PCR utilizando duas metodologias (CLERMONT et al., 2000 e 2011). Os GAV (stx1, stx2, eae, bfpA, aggR, elt, esth, estp, invE e astA) foram pesquisados por PCR. Os resultados foram utilizados na avaliação do risco microbiológico por QMRA. Dezenove isolados foram resistentes a AMP, sendo UBA (3%), BS (33%) e CSS (16%). Dezessete isolados foram resistentes a TET: UBA (20%), BS (23%) e CSS (12%); 14 isolados foram resistentes a SUT: UBA e CSS (10%) e BS (23%). As frequências (%) dos GF (Clermont ET AL., 2000) comensais A e B1 foram, respectivamente (55 e 15 em UBA; 63 e 13 na BS; 69 e 8 no CSS); já as frequências (%) dos GF virulentos B2 e D foram, respectivamente, 5 e 25 em UBA; 7 e 16 na BS; 4 e 18 no CSS. As frequências (%) dos GF (CLERMONT et al., 2013) comensais A, B1 e C foram: respectivamente: (15, 15 e 5 em UBA; 20, 3 e 3 na BS; 2, 10 e 2 no CSS), já os grupos mais virulentos (B2, D, E e F) foram, respectivamente: (15, 15, 0 e 10 em UBA; 13, 27, 0 e 10 na BS; 10, 33, 8 e 18 no CSS); as frequências do clado I em UBA, BS e CSS foram respectivamente: (15, 23 e 12). Os GAV detectados em UBA foram: astA (15%) e bfpA (5%); BS: esth (3%) e astA (30%) e no CSS: stx1 (2%), eae (4%), estp (2%) e astA (47). Embora não tenha sido detectado risco à balneabilidade, observou-se isolados resistentes e GF virulentos em todos os pontos de coleta, dessa forma, esses ambientes devem ser conservados para assegurar a saúde ambiental e humana, além disso a QMRA não representou o risco total de todos micro-organismos e patógenos oportunistas presentes nessas regiões. / The quality of seawater intended for bathing can be affected by sources of point and non-point pollution. In this pollutants may be Escherichia coli. E.coli is a commensal member of the intestinal tract of humans and endothermic animals, and when present in the marine environment indicates recent fecal contamination. Although most strains are harmless, there are virulent and/or resistant to antibiotics. E. coli can be evaluated by phylogenetic groups - PG (A, B1, B2, C, D, E, F, clade 1) and diarrheagenic categories (ETEC, EPEC, EHEC, EIEC, EAEC and DAEC). The aim of the present study was to characterize 99 E. coli isolated from seawater samples from three coastal regions of the state of São Paulo with different levels of contamination [Ubatuba (UBA), oligotrophic (n=20); Santos (BS), eutrophic (n=30) and São Sebastião Channel (CSS), mesotrophic (n=49)], in regard to antibiotics susceptibility, PG, virulence genes (VGs) associated with diarrheagenic pathotypes and to estimate the microbiological risks to bathing. The susceptibility to ampicillin (AMP), amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (AMC), amikacin (AMI), cefotaxime (CTX), cefuroxime (CRX), ciprofloxacin (CIP), chloramphenicol (CLO), imipenem (IPM), piperacillin-tazobactam (PPT), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (SUT) and tetracycline (TET) was determined by disk diffusion. The classification in regard to GF was performed by PCR using two methodologies (2000 and 2013). The VGs (stx1, stx2, eae, bfpA, aggR, elt, esth, estp, invE and astA) were screened by PCR and the results were used to evaluate the microbiological risk by QMRA. Nineteen isolates were resistant to AMP: UBA (3%), BS (33%) and CSS (16%). Seventeen isolates were resistant to TET: UBA (20%), BS (23%) and CSS (12%); 14 isolates were resistant to the SUT: UBA and CSS (10%) and BS (23%). By the methodology of 2000, the frequencies (%) of commensals PG and B1 were, respectively, (55 and 15 in UBA; 63 and 13 in BS; 69 and 8 in CSS); while the frequencies (%) of virulent PG, B2 and D were, respectively (5 and 25 in UBA; 7 and 16 in BS; 4 and 18 in CSS). By the methodology of 2013, the frequencies (%) of PG commensals A, B1 and C were, respectively: (15, 15 and 5 in UBA; 20, 3 and 3 in BS; 2, 10 and 2 in CSS), on the other hand, the most virulent groups (B2, D, E and F) were, respectively: (15, 15, 0 and 10 in UBA; 13, 27, 0 and 10 in BS; 10, 33, 8 and 18 in CSS); clade 1 frequencies in UBA, BS and CSS were, respectively (15, 23 and 12). The VGs were detected in UBA; astA (15%) and bfpA (5%); BS: esth (3%) and astA (30%) and CSS: stx1 (2%), eae (4%), estp (2%) and astA (47). Although no microbiological hazard was detected to bathing, was observed resistant isolates and virulent PG, thereby these environments should be preserved to ensure the environmental and human health, moreover the QMRA did not represent the overall risk of all microorganisms and opportunistic pathogens present in these regions.

O ambiente marinho muitas vezes é negligenciado nas discussões ambientais devido ao aparente distanciamento entre esse e nosso cotidiano, tendo sofrido um acentuado processo de transformação e degradação. Assim, fica evidente a necessidade de atividades de Educação Ambiental que abordem tal ambiente. A Exposição interativa Mergulho Fora d\'Água (MFA) insere-se nesse contexto. O presente trabalho visa contribuir para a ampliação do conhecimento sobre concepções de estudantes do Ensino Fundamental acerca do ambiente marinho, bem como para a avaliação e aprimoramento da exposição interativa MFA. A pesquisa apresenta como objetivos específicos investigar concepções iniciais e verificar se e como a atividade MFA influência tais concepções dos alunos do Ensino Fundamental de uma escola da cidade de São Paulo sobre: (1) meio ambiente; (2) ambiente marinho, sua conservação e relação com o cotidiano desses alunos. Para isso, foram aplicados questionários estruturados compostos por questões fechadas e abertas, antes e após os estudantes participarem da exposição MFA. Para a análise dos dados, as respostas de questões abertas foram submetidas a um processo de categorização aberta e as categorias foram comparadas por meio de quantificações simples (cálculo de médias de ocorrência). Respostas provenientes de questões fechadas foram diretamente quantificadas e comparadas. Os dados foram coletados em turmas de sétimo, oitavo e nono ano do Ensino Fundamental de uma Escola Estadual da Cidade de São Paulo, localizada nas proximidades da USP. Um total de 476 estudantes participou da pesquisa. Nossos resultados evidenciaram que os estudantes sujeitos da pesquisa podem apresentar diversas concepções de meio ambiente, aplicando-as dependendo das várias situações as quais são expostos. Por exemplo, como concepções iniciais, ao pensarem no meio ambiente em geral, foram predominantemente Naturalistas e excluíram o homem do meio ambiente. Já quando pensam no ambiente marinho propriamente dito, justificam a necessidade de sua conservação também com base em concepções Naturalistas, mas estabelecem relação entre tal ambiente e seu cotidiano com base em uma concepção Antropocêntrica, justificada principalmente por uso de substâncias e alimentos derivados do mar. Vale ainda ressaltar que uma porcentagem bastante reduzida dos estudantes (20%) conseguiu estabelecer tal relação ambiente marinho-cotidiano. A principal palavra associada a esse ambiente foi &ldquo;curiosidade&rdquo; e, ao serem questionados sobre organismos marinhos, os cordados foram os mais citados (baleias, peixes e tubarões). Apesar da persistência de muitas dessas concepções iniciais, pudemos verificar algumas mudanças após a realização da exposição MFA, como uma maior inclusão do homem como elemento do meio ambiente. Além disso, concepções Antropocêntricas e Problema de meio ambiente sofreram redução. Quanto às concepções sobre ambiente marinho, a porcentagem absoluta de estudantes que conseguiu estabelecer a relação desse ambiente com seu cotidiano aumentando discretamente (para 30%). Quanto às palavras associadas ao ambiente marinho, &ldquo;curiosidade&rdquo; aumentou para estudantes de todos os anos. Já para os mais jovens alguns aspectos negativos também sofreram aumento (como poluição, doença e medo). No caso do nono ano, a situação foi diferente, ocorrendo maior citação de aspectos positivos, como beleza e diversão. Para todos os anos escolares, as citações de animais não cordados (ex. estrelas e ouriços), vegetais (algas) e plâncton foram maiores e organismos não marinhos (ex. girinos) foram menos citados. Nossa percepção geral é que a exposição MFA alcançou objetivos mais efetivos para os alunos de nono ano. Pautamos essa percepção em dados como o aumento de interesse após a exposição por parte dos alunos e do aumento da associação do ambiente marinho à beleza e diversão, além de curiosidade. Assim, o presente trabalho representou um esforço inicial para a melhor compreensão sobre as concepções de meio ambiente e, especialmente sobre o ambiente marinho. Esperamos que os dados obtidos possam ser subsídios para a avaliação à atividade MFA por parte de seus idealizadores em um processo continua de aprimoramento / The marine environment is often neglected in environmental discussions due to the apparent detachment between this and our daily lives, having undergone a marked transformation and degradation processes. Based on this, it is evident the need for environmental education activities about this environment. The interactive exhibition Out of Water Diving (OWD) is inserted in this context. The present work aims to contribute to the expansion of knowledge about the concepts of elementary school students about the marine environment, as well as for the evaluation and improvement of the interactive exhibition OWD. The specific objectives are to investigate the initial conceptions and check whether and how the OWD activity influence conceptions of students from a São Paulo school about: (1) the environment, (2) marine environment, its conservation and relation with the daily lives of students. We used structured questionnaires consisting of open and closed questions, before and after OWD exhibition. For data analysis, responses to open questions were subjected to a process of open categorization and categories were compared. Answers from closed questions were directly quantified and compared. Data were collected in classes of seventh, eighth and ninth year of elementary school in a public School of São Paulo city, located near at USP. A total of 476 students participated in the survey. Our results showed that students may have different environment conceptions, applying them depending on various situations which are exposed. For example, as initial conceptions about the environment, the students showed predominantly Naturalist concepts and excluded the man of environment. However, when they think about marine environment, they justify the need for its conservation also based on conceptions Naturalists, but establish relationship between such an environment and their daily based on an anthropocentric concepts, mainly explained by substance use and food derived from the sea. In addition, a small percentage of students (20 %) was able to establish a relation between marine environment and everyday life. The key word associated with this environment was &ldquo;curiosity&rdquo;, and when questioned about marine organisms, the chordates were the most frequent cited (whales , fishes and sharks ). Despite the persistence of many of these initial conceptions, we could detect some changes after the exposure OWD, as an increase on inclusion of man as an element of the environment. In addition, Anthropocentric and Problem concepts of environmental were reduced. Regarding conceptions of the marine environment, the absolute percentage of students who were able to establish the relationship of this environment with their everyday life slightly increasing (to 30 %). About the words associated with the marine environment, &ldquo; curiosity&rdquo; increased for students of all years. However, for the youngest students, some negative aspects also increase (pollution, disease and fear). For the ninth year, the situation was different, occurring most citations of positive aspects, such as beauty and fun. For all school years, the citations of animals not chordates (eg. stars and sea urchins), vegetables (seaweed) and plankton were higher and non-marine organisms (eg, tadpoles) were lower cited. Our general perception is that OWD exposure achieved goals more effective for students of ninth year. We base this perception on data such as the increase after exposure of interest by students and increased of the association among marine environment and beauty and fun, as well as curiosity. Thus, this study represented an initial effort to better understanding of environment concepts as well as marine environment concepts. We hope that the data can be subsidy for the evaluation OWD exposition by its creators in a continuous improvement process

Plankton microorganisms constitute the base of the marine food web and play a great role in global atmospheric carbon dioxide drawdown. Moreover, being very sensitive to any environmental changes they allow noticing (and potentially counteracting) them faster than with any other means. As such they not only influence the fishery industry but are also frequently used to analyze changes in exploited coastal areas and the influence of these interferences on local environment and climate. As a consequence, there is a strong need for highly efficient systems allowing long time and large volume observation of plankton communities. This would provide us with better understanding of plankton role on global climate as well as help maintain the fragile environmental equilibrium. The adopted sensors typically provide huge amounts of data that must be processed efficiently without the need for intensive manual work of specialists. A new system for general purpose particle analysis in large volumes is presented. It has been designed and optimized for the continuous plankton monitoring problem; however, it can be easily applied as a versatile moving fluids analysis tool or in any other application in which targets to be detected and identified move in a unidirectional flux. The proposed system is composed of three stages: data acquisition, targets detection and their identification. Dedicated optical hardware is used to record images of small particles immersed in the water flux. Targets detection is performed using a Visual Rhythm-based method which greatly accelerates the processing time and allows higher volume throughput. The proposed method detects, counts and measures organisms present in water flux passing in front of the camera. Moreover, the developed software allows saving cropped plankton images which not only greatly reduces required storage space but also constitutes the input for their automatic identification. In order to assure maximal performance (up to 720 MB/s) the algorithm was implemented using CUDA for GPGPU. The method was tested on a large dataset and compared with alternative frame-by-frame approach. The obtained plankton images were used to build a classifier that is applied to automatically identify organisms in plankton analysis experiments. For this purpose a dedicated feature extracting software was developed. Various subsets of the 55 shape characteristics were tested with different off-the-shelf learning models. The best accuracy of approximately 92% was obtained with Support Vector Machines. This result is comparable to the average expert manual identification performance. This work was developed under joint supervision with Professor Rubens Lopes (IO-USP). / Microorganismos planctônicos constituem a base da cadeia alimentar marinha e desempenham um grande papel na redução do dióxido de carbono na atmosfera. Além disso, são muito sensíveis a alterações ambientais e permitem perceber (e potencialmente neutralizar) as mesmas mais rapidamente do que em qualquer outro meio. Como tal, não só influenciam a indústria da pesca, mas também são frequentemente utilizados para analisar as mudanças nas zonas costeiras exploradas e a influência destas interferências no ambiente e clima locais. Como consequência, existe uma forte necessidade de desenvolver sistemas altamente eficientes, que permitam observar comunidades planctônicas em grandes escalas de tempo e volume. Isso nos fornece uma melhor compreensão do papel do plâncton no clima global, bem como ajuda a manter o equilíbrio do frágil meio ambiente. Os sensores utilizados normalmente fornecem grandes quantidades de dados que devem ser processados de forma eficiente sem a necessidade do trabalho manual intensivo de especialistas. Um novo sistema de monitoramento de plâncton em grandes volumes é apresentado. Foi desenvolvido e otimizado para o monitoramento contínuo de plâncton; no entanto, pode ser aplicado como uma ferramenta versátil para a análise de fluídos em movimento ou em qualquer aplicação que visa detectar e identificar movimento em fluxo unidirecional. O sistema proposto é composto de três estágios: aquisição de dados, detecção de alvos e suas identificações. O equipamento óptico é utilizado para gravar imagens de pequenas particulas imersas no fluxo de água. A detecção de alvos é realizada pelo método baseado no Ritmo Visual, que acelera significativamente o tempo de processamento e permite um maior fluxo de volume. O método proposto detecta, conta e mede organismos presentes na passagem do fluxo de água em frente ao sensor da câmera. Além disso, o software desenvolvido permite salvar imagens segmentadas de plâncton, que não só reduz consideravelmente o espaço de armazenamento necessário, mas também constitui a entrada para a sua identificação automática. Para garantir o desempenho máximo de até 720 MB/s, o algoritmo foi implementado utilizando CUDA para GPGPU. O método foi testado em um grande conjunto de dados e comparado com a abordagem alternativa de quadro-a-quadro. As imagens obtidas foram utilizadas para construir um classificador que é aplicado na identificação automática de organismos em experimentos de análise de plâncton. Por este motivo desenvolveu-se um software para extração de características. Diversos subconjuntos das 55 características foram testados através de modelos de aprendizagem disponíveis. A melhor exatidão de aproximadamente 92% foi obtida através da máquina de vetores de suporte. Este resultado é comparável à identificação manual média realizada por especialistas. Este trabalho foi desenvolvido sob a co-orientacao do Professor Rubens Lopes (IO-USP).

When underwater sensors are being deployed there is always some uncertainty about the actual position of the sensors. The most common way of determine the sensors position is the use of hydro-acoustic methods. However, for electric field sensors the most favourable would be to use the sensor system itself. The first question being answered in this report is whether it is possible to position electric field sensors with the sensor system itself, and the answer is yes. An algorithm has been developed which calculates the relative position of the sensors based on data measured by the sensors when a dipole passes the sensor group. The algorithm extracts zero crossings of the z-components of the electric field measured by each sensor from the data, which are converted to moments in time, multiplied by the speed and course of the vessel and finally calculated into relative position vectors between the sensors using vector algebra. The result of the predicted relative position is within 0.2 m from the sensors’ actual position, which answers the second question about how accurate the method is. However, the error estimation is within a couple of centimetres indicating that there are other sources of error than speed and course. The third question being answered is whether the method is better than acoustic methods, and the answer is no. Nonetheless, the methods are within the same order of magnitude. In conclusion, the method has acceptable performance, especially considering the fact that it can determine the position of the sensors with the sensor system itself which could be significant.

Thesis (LLD.) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / This thesis, “Regulation, control and prevention of marine pollution in South Africa: A Comparative analysis between national and international legal framework” focuses on the existing laws, conventions, treaties and policies on the control and prevention of marine pollution. Various laws have been enacted in South Africa to prevent and control marine pollution. However, marine pollution continues to increase at a rapid rate. This study aims to establish a basic approach that is aimed at combating marine pollution through examining the regulation, prevention and control of marine pollution in South Africa, with a specific focus on the comparative analysis of national and international framework. To this end, a comparison is made between South Africa and other jurisdictions in Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America. The reason for employing a comparative approach is to learn best practices and finding solutions to the problem of marine pollution. Thus, the international legal framework, regional framework and operations of intergovernmental bodies and non-governmental bodies on the effort of combatting marine pollution were analysed. The objectives of this study were to examine how marine pollution is prevented through the existing legal framework; to identify the reason for the increasing rate of marine pollution despite the existing legal framework promulgated to curb marine pollution; to determine the effectiveness of the newly created IMOrg, juxtaposing it with similar organisations in other jurisdictions and to propose amendments to legislation that prevent and control marine pollution to ensure effective protection of the marine environment. This study was guided by questions such as the following: Do the existing legal frameworks adequately protect and control marine pollution? What is the reason for the increase in marine pollution despite the existing legal framework regulating marine pollution? How effective is the IMOrg in ensuring that South Africa address marine pollution? Is there a need to promulgate more effective legislation preventing and controlling marine pollution? x The study adopted a non-empirical qualitative research design that does not include data collection, questionnaire, systematic data analysis, observations and/or interviews. The study relied on the library materials that include but are not limited to textbooks, reports, legislations, regulations, charters, policies, amendments to the legislation, journals or academic journals, government gazette, constitution, national and international journals. From the materials consulted, the study revealed the existence of a relationship between the national and international legal framework. However, such an existing relationship is not good enough to effectively prevent the marine environment from harm. This is because a plethora of national legislations that regulate the marine environment comprise less stringent measures to deter future contravention. The study recommends amendments to legislations that regulate marine pollution to impose penalties that have a deterrent value on parties. The study advises against the repealing of these legislations.

This licentiate study was initiated by copper, zinc and galvanized steel producers in Europe, who felt a need to assess runoff rates of copper and zinc from the pure metals and commercial products at marine exposure conditions. Their motive was the increasing concern in various European countries and the on-going risk assessments of copper and zinc within the European commission. Also the circumstance that available runoff rates so far, had been reported for mainly urban exposure conditions, rather than marine. A collaboration was therefore established with the French Corrosion Institute, which runs a marine test site in Brest, and a set of vital questions were formulated. Their answers are the essence of this licentiate study. Based on the ISO corrosivity classification and one-year exposures, the marine atmosphere of Brest is fairly corrosive for zinc (class C3) and highly corrosive for copper (C4). Despite higher corrosivity classifications for both metals in Brest compared to the urban site of Stockholm, used as a reference site, nearly all runoff rates assessed for copper, zinc and their commercial products were lower in Brest compared to Stockholm. This was attributed to a higher surface wetting in Brest and concomitant higher removal rate of deposited chloride and sulphate species from the marine-exposed surfaces. The comparison shows that measured corrosion rates cannot be used to predict runoff rates, since different physicochemical processes govern corrosion and runoff respectively. For copper, the runoff rate in Brest was approximately 1.1 g m-2 yr-1 with cuprite (Cu2O) as main patina constituent. During periods of very high chloride and sulphate deposition, paratacamite (Cu2Cl(OH)3) formed which increased the runoff rate to 1.5 g m-2 yr-1. For zinc, with hydrozincite (Zn5(CO3)2(OH)6) as the main patina constituent, the runoff rate was relatively stable at 2.6 g m-2 yr-1 throughout the year, despite episodes of heavy chloride and sulphate deposition. The application of organic coatings of varying thickness on artificially patinated copper or on different zinc-based products resulted in improved barrier properties and reduced runoff rates that seem highly dependent on thickness. The thickest organic coating (150 µm thick), applied on hot dipped galvanized steel, reduced the runoff rate by a factor of 100. No deterioration of organic coatings was observed during the one-year exposures. Alloying zinc-based products with aluminium resulted in surface areas enriched in aluminium and concomitant reduced zinc runoff rates. The release rate and bioavailability of copper from different anti-fouling paints into artificial seawater was also investigated. It turned out that the release rate not only depends on the copper concentration in the paint, but also on paint matrix properties and other released metal constituents detected. Far from all copper was bioavailabe at the immediate release situation. In all, the results suggest the importance of assessing the ecotoxic response of anti-fouling paints not only by regarding the copper release, but rather through an integrated effect of all matrix constituents. / QC 20101126

Le milieu marin est un espace difficile à étudier et notre connaissance des cétacés et des oiseaux marins présente encore de nombreuses lacunes, notamment concernant leur distribution au large. Le milieu marin pélagique est caractérisé par une forte variabilité spatiotemporelle, les différents processus écologiques composant cet écosystème étant très dynamiques dans le temps et l'espace. Il est donc crucial pour ces espèces marines d'anticiper ces variations afin de se maintenir dans le milieu. Grâce à des campagnes en mer à grandes échelles réalisées en Manche, Golfe de Gascogne et Méditerranée occidentale, cette thèse vise à améliorer la connaissance de la distribution des cétacés et oiseaux marins dans ces régions, et explorer l'impact de la variabilité spatiotemporelle de l'océan sur leur écologie. Ce travail se focalise notamment sur deux échelles temporelles, les variations saisonnières et interannuelles. Dans un premier temps, nous étudierons les variations de préférences d'habitats des espèces étudiées à ces deux échelles. Les cétacés et oiseaux marins étant des espèces longévives caractérisées par de longues périodes d'apprentissage au début de leur vie, nous explorerons également comment la réponse à la saisonnalité varie en fonction de l'expérience chez une espèce commune dans la région, le fou de Bassan. Enfin, nous finirons par explorer les liens prédateurs-proies dans le Golfe de Gascogne, en considérant notamment l'accessibilité de ces proies en termes de taille et de profondeur. Ainsi, cette thèse nous permettra de discuter les implications de ce travail concernant l'écologie des cétacés et oiseaux marins, ainsi que leur conservation. / Marine ecosystem is hard to study and several gaps remain in our understanding of cetaceans and seabirds, particularly regarding their at-sea distributions. The pelagic ecosystem is characterised by an important spatiotemporal variability, thanks to the space and time dynamics of its constituting ecological processes. Top predators thus have to anticipate this variability to sustain themselves in the ecosystem. Based on large-scale surveys across waters of the English Channel, Bay of Biscay and north-western Mediterranean Sea, this thesis aimed at improving knowledge regarding the distribution of cetaceans and seabirds in the area, and to explore the impact of ocean spatiotemporal variability on their ecology. This work focused on two temporal scales, the seasonal and interannual variability. We first explored the variations of habitat preferences of studied species at these two temporal scales. Cetaceans and seabirds being long-lived species characterised by long learning periods in their early life, the response to seasonality was investigated according to age and experience in northern gannets, the most abundant seabird species in the area. Finally, the predator-prey association within the Bay of Biscay was also explored, by contrasting prey accessibility in terms of size and depth. The implications of this work regarding the ecology of marine top predators, as well as their conservation, are finally discussed.

Avec pour cas d’étude les Programmes de mesures de la Directive-cadre « stratégie pour le milieu marin », cette thèse étudie les usages attendus et effectifs des évaluations économiques, et plus largement du langage économique, dans l’élaboration des politiques publiques d’environnement. En France, les Programmes de mesures ont été élaborés via des réunions rassemblant des membres des administrations centrales et déconcentrées ainsi que des parties prenantes, aussi bien au niveau national qu’à l’échelle des sous-régions marines. Une étude des incidences socio-économiques et environnementales des mesures nouvelles, présentée comme une analyse coût-efficacité, a été conduite par des bureaux d’études. Des observations directes ont été menées au cours de 27 de ces réunions.Une analyse de contenu des discours ainsi collectés montre un faible recours au langage économique (i.e. interventions et arguments économiques). Toutefois, la proportion de langage économique dans l’ensemble des discours augmente après la présentation des résultats de l’étude d’incidences. L’absence d’objectifs bien définis et majoritairement acceptés par les parties prenantes émergeant du processus d’élaboration des Programmes de mesures explique en partie la difficulté qu’a eue l’étude d’incidence à remplir son rôle d’outil d’aide à la décision. L’élaboration des Programmes de mesures a alors été analysée comme un processus de coordination entre agents, nécessitant l’émergence de représentations communes des problèmes d’environnement marin, dans un contexte de forte incertitude. Une analyse textuelle menée sur 25 extraits d’entretiens auprès de participants au processus d’élaboration des Programmes de mesures fait apparaître la coexistence de quatre représentations du Bon état écologique. / With a focus on the programmes of measures of the European marine Strategy Framework Directive, this work explores the expected and effective uses of economic valuation, and more widely of economic language, in support of the implementation of environmental public policy. In France, the programmes of measures were elaborated via meetings gathering central and decentralised administration members as well as stakeholders, both at national and sub-marine regions scales. A socio-economic and environmental impact assessment of new measures, presented as a cost-effectivness analysis, has been conducted by external consultants. Direct observations were conducted during 27 of those meetings. A content analysis of collected speeches shows that economic language (i.e. economic interventions and arguments) is hardly ever used. However the share of economic language within speeches increases once the impact assessment of new measures has been introduced. The lack of well defined and widely accepted objectives arising from the programmes of measures elaboration process partly explain why impact assessment struggled to find its place as a tool for supporting decision-making. The Programme of measures elaboration has then been analysed as a coordination process, requiring emergence of shared representations of marine environment issues, in a highly unpredictable context. The textual analysis of 25 interviews extracts, conducted with participants to the programme of measures elaboration process, highlights the coexistence of four representations of the Good environmental status.

This study focuses on the influence of particular teaching strategies that can be used in Environmental Education (EE) and examines how specific methods influence knowledge retention and attitude change. The aim of the study is to compare the 'traditional' lecture style method where learners are passive, with cooperative learning to determine their influence on learners’ knowledge retention and attitude towards marine conservation. Both methods can be considered effective teaching methods to increase knowledge retention and induce a positive change in environmental attitudes. However, this study suggests that the teaching method used in a particular school could influence the learning outcomes of the EE programme because of pre-existing abilities, skills the learners may have and context to which the learners are exposed. In conclusion, when offering an EE programme, for the programme to be successful one would need to determine which method of teaching is practised within schools and then ensure that the same method is used. / Teacher Education / M. Ed. (Environmental Education))