Abstract :
The marine environment of the United Arab Emirates along the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman is subjected to increasing quantities of oil which may cause human health problems (Sindermann, 1978; Dunn and Fee, 1979; Ponat, 1988). In addition to the usual toxic effects on marine life and shore damage, oil spills threaten the desalination plants that provide the fresh water supply for the Gulf region. On the evening of 31 March 1994, a quantity (16000t) of Iranian crude oil leaked into the Gulf of Oman 9.5 miles outside the Al-Fujirah port entrance after a collision between the 57211 dwt tanker ‘Baynunah’ and the 293238dwt supertanker ‘Seki’. Clean-up operations which started within 1 h and 40 min of the collision could remove only 2000 t of oil from the sea, and failed to contain the spill. After 4 days, the floating oil hit the shoreline of the United Arab Emirates and contaminated about 20 km of shoreline. This resulted in the disruption of the fishing industry and a reduction in scuba diving tourism (Marine Pollution Bulletin Report, 1994). Much of the fauna on the rocky shores was covered by oil. The active shore crab (Grapsus albolineatus) and the barnacle populations were smothered by the oil spill (Copper, 1995). Mechanical and flotation techniques were applied onshore after 4 April 1994, but there is no information on how much oil was removed by these operations. The main objectives of this paper are to evaluate the concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons and organic carbon contents at the time of the incident and to assess, in July and November 1994, the recovery of the marine environment after a period of about 8 months.
