How severely was the Persian Gulf affected by oil spills following the 1991 Gulf War?

Abstract

Ostracods from 14 surface sediment samples taken from the northwest part of the Persian Gulf (Iranian side) at water depths of 32–54 m were studied to evaluate the environmental pollution caused by oil spills following the 1991 Gulf War. With the exception of two live ostracods, which show no response to the contamination, at least 58 closed carapaces from 18 taxa of herbivorous and sediment-feeding species were found containing dark brown oil. All contaminated specimens were restricted to the uppermost part of the sediments (0.0–0.5 cm). The extent of the impact and the number of affected species varies within the samples. The most heavily contaminated ostracods were encountered in samples 1, 3, 14, 21 and 26 in which 3–5% of the complete carapaces contain oil residues. Compared to a previous sampling in 1965, seven additional ostracod species occur in the modern Persian Gulf. This indicates an intact environmental state prior to the Gulf War.