The main objective of this study was to evaluate the contamination by mercury (Hg), methylmercury (Me-Hg), cadmium (Cd), selenium (Se), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) in dolphins stranded on the French Mediterranean coast. The distributions of these contaminants in the organs of dolphins have also been studied. Overall, contamination levels varied according to the following sequence: liver > kidney > lung > muscle, except for cadmium (kidney > liver > lung > muscle). Size and sex of animals were also considered. Young dolphins were less impacted with trace elements than adults, except for copper. Among the studied parameters, the most important appeared to be the size of mammals. In addition, in the case of mercury and selenium, the sex of mammals seemed to be also relevant. The correlations between the concentrations of trace elements suggest the existence of detoxification processes. Since 1990s, using dolphins for tracing marine pollution, a slight reduction in the burden of the considered trace elements could be noted.

Organochlorinated compounds including PolyChloroBiphenyles, Dichloro-DiphenylTrichloroethan and metabolites are determinated in Stenella coeruleoalba (n=37) stranded on the french Mediterranean coasts from 2007 till 2009. Studies are carried out on lung, muscle, kidney, liver, and blubber. The sought-after compounds are all detected to variable levels in each tissue and organ. In general, total PCBs are the most abondant, followed by total DDTs. The concentration (in ngg−1 of lipid weight) in blubber of S. coeruleoalba, varied from 2,052 to 158,992 for PCBs and from 1,120 to 45,779 for DDTs. The ratios DDE/tDDTs are higher than 80% in almost all samples. The overall results of this work, compared to previous studies concerning the Mediterranean Sea, seems to confirm the tendency to a decrease of the contamination by organics compounds for the cetaceans in the Western Mediterranean Sea.

Mayotte Island, a small volcanic island, is surrounded by the largest coral reef lagoon of the Indian Ocean (almost 1,500 km(2)), with all coral reefs types represented: ribbon barrier reefs, lagoonal and fringing reefs, and also coastal mangroves.Since 1975, Mayotte has shown an incredible development of its population (today about 180,000) and of its economy, with increases in consumer goods, fresh water use, construction of concrete houses and buildings, roads, truck and car parks, harbor and airport activity, gas and oil consumption, etc. At the same time, land vegetation coverage has decreased (there are still burnings of areas for agriculture and charcoal making) as land erosion has increased in some areas.As a consequence of this development of towns, villages, roads, harbor and airport traffic, which is mainly along the coastal areas, today an increase in the turbidity and the pollutants in the surface waters of the coast has been observed. Pollution was analyzed by monitoring the midlittoral oyster (Saccostrea cucullata): some trace metals, as Zn, Cd, Hg, and Cr; some polyaromatic hydrocarbons, such as naphthalene, pyrene, and fluo-ranthene; and some polychlorobiphenyls (PCB), even some that are particularly toxic, were found.Associated with this degradation of the coastal water quality and human impacts in general, in the decades since 1997, a decrease in the vitality of the fringing reef communities that surround the islands (predominant coral coverage ratio <5%) has been observed. Therefore, the human impacts are stronger than the natural stresses, such as the ENSO and/or coral bleaching events, and the crown-of-thorns starfish Acanthaster infestations. Muddy flats now overlay inner areas of the fringing reef flats. Linked with this, coastal fish populations have decreased.

The present field study uses Spongia officinalis for assessing trace metals occurrence in time and space within Mediterranean rocky communities. Nine sites were selected in the Marseille area for studying spatial trends in 12 metal concentrations. Long term changes in 8 metal concentrations were assessed at sites that had been sampled before and 12 years after the opening of a treatment plant. Spongia officinalis highly concentrated all the trace metal surveyed excepted Hg and Cd. The overall contamination level registered provided a classification of the study sites which is congruent with that given by other studies on pollutant accumulation in neighbouring sandy-bottoms or benthic assemblages. Among the metals studied, Fe, Pb, Cr are those that best highlighted a pollution gradient. In the present study, only Cd concentration did not vary in space. Except for Ni, all pollutant concentrations clearly decreased between 1984 and 1999. This very impressive decrease in heavy metal concentrations within the Marseille area represents an indisputable evidence of the improvement of the seawater quality resulting from 12 years' operation of the Marseille sewage plant. Moreover, the significant decrease also recorded in the reference population at Port-Cros might reflect an overall improvement in the seawater quality of the NW Mediterranean.

A selective method for determining polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments using solid‐phase extraction and RP‐HPLC with fluorescence and UV detection is described. The complete analytical method is used to surface sediments from the creek of Cortiou (France). Sewage from the urban area of Marseille is delivered to the creek. PAH levels in sediments (µg/g) range between 2.251 µg/g (for the benzo(a)anthracene) and < 0.001 µg/g. The flux of pollution provided by the outfall is preferentially oriented from East to West by the Liguro‐Provenalcal current. The significant values are mainly confined on a perimeter of 2 km around the outfall. The phenanthrene/anthracene and fluoranthene/pyrene ratios indicate pyrolytic and petrogenic contamination. The particulate size observations concerning the sediments show that oxygenated sandy zones, where eliminating mechanisms (desorption, biodegradation) take place, are mainly located on the Chêvres plateau and around Jarre, Plane and Riou Islands.