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Sea-level observations provide information on a variety of processes occurring over different temporal and spatial scales that may contribute to coastal flooding and hazards. However, global research on sea-level extremes is restricted to hourly datasets, which prevent the quantification and analyses of processes occurring at timescales between a few minutes and a few hours. These shorter-period processes, like seiches, meteotsunamis, infragravity and coastal waves, may even dominate in low tidal basins. Therefore, a new global 1 min sea-level dataset – MISELA (Minute Sea-Level Analysis) – has been developed, encompassing quality-checked records of nonseismic sea-level oscillations at tsunami timescales (T<2 h) obtained from 331 tide-gauge sites (https://doi.org/10.14284/456, Zemunik et al., 2021b). This paper describes data quality control procedures applied to the MISELA dataset, world and regional coverage of tide-gauge sites, and lengths of time series. The dataset is appropriate for global, regional or local research of atmospherically induced high-frequency sea-level oscillations, which should be included in the overall sea-level extremes assessments.

Human activities have put the ocean under unprecedented pressure. Nevertheless, levels of public awareness of ocean issues remain low. Ocean literacy is a global movement that aims to improve the understanding of the ocean and provide an incentive for positive change in people's behaviour. To date, there is no validated scale targeted to adults to measure ocean literacy that includes measuring people's knowledge about the ocean, as well as surveying their attitudes and willingness to act. The Blue Survey, an on -line instrument meant to measure ocean literacy in adult populations, was developed by a multidisciplinary team of experts. Using factor analysis, the present study explores the validity and internal consistency of the Blue Survey in a purposive online sample of 251 adults. We found ocean literacy to consist of six sub-dimensions captured by 34 survey items, viz. knowledge of ocean-related topics, personal interest in ocean-related aspects, ocean stewardship, ocean as an economic resource, ocean-friendly behaviour, and willingness to act responsibly towards the ocean. Our analysis resulted in the development of a new validated instrument to measure the various dimensions of ocean literacy. These results may help researchers and practitioners to better understand the factors which contribute to shaping an ocean-literate person. Further research should be carried out to assess the validity of the Blue Survey across different populations, including those closely related to the sea, such as maritime professionals.

Geopolitics of the sea is a new and unexplored area of research, although it is wide enough to have become a distinct component within the geopolitical theory in general. Moreover, the cruise industry, the fastest-growing branch of tourism and one of the fastest-growing industries in the world, has been neglected for a long time and there is not enough literature dealing with it or systematizing all the effects that the industry is producing. This paper is a synthesis of two unexplored areas of research, which are combined in the third chapter to form a geopolitics of the cruise industry, in order to encompass two complex subjects within one term. This paper has proven that the geopolitics of the cruise industry has to become a significant matter in the research of geopolitics, international law of the sea and navigation since cruise lines are slowly starting to overtake countries as the most significant entities in the geopolitics of the sea. The legal system, the geopolitical theoretical frameworks, and coastal states need to implement various changes as soon as possible in order to adjust to the dynamic demands that the new era of tourism, marked by mega-cruisers, is making. Geopolitika mora novo je i neistraženo područje, iako je dovoljno sveobuhvatno da postane svojevrsna zasebna disciplina unutar same geopolitičke teorije. Isto tako, cruise industrija, najbrže rastuća grana turizma i jedna od najbrže rastućih industrija općenito, zanemarivana je te ne postoji dovoljno literature koja bi se njome bavila i sistematizirala sve njene učinke. Ovaj rad sinteza je dvaju neistraženih područja, koja se unutar njega spajaju u geopolitiku cruise industrije, kako bi unutar istog termina bila obuhvaćena dva kompleksna predmeta. U radu je zaključeno da bi geopolitika cruise industrije trebala zauzimati značajno mjesto u proučavanju geopolitike, međunarodnog prava mora i nautike, budući da cruise kompanije polako preuzimaju vodeću ulogu u geopolitici mora, ostavljajući iza sebe čak i države. Pravni sustav, teorijski geopolitički okviri i obalne države moraju što prije uvesti promjene kako bi se prilagodili dinamičnim zahtjevima novog doba turizma, koje obilježavaju mega cruiseri.

Ballast water treatment is required for vessels to prevent the introduction of potentially invasive neobiota. Some treatment methods use chemical disinfectants which produce a variety of halogenated compounds as disinfection by-products (DBPs). One of the most abundant DBPs from oxidative ballast water treatment is bromoform (CHBr3), for which we find an average concentration of 894±560 nmol L−1 (226±142 µg L−1) in the undiluted ballast water from measurements and the literature. Bromoform is a relevant gas for atmospheric chemistry and ozone depletion, especially in the tropics where entrainment into the stratosphere is possible. The spread of DBPs in the tropics over months to years is assessed here for the first time. With Lagrangian trajectories based on the NEMO-ORCA12 model velocity field, we simulate DBP spread in the sea surface and quantify the oceanic bromoform concentration and emissions to the atmosphere from ballast water discharge at major harbours in the tropical region of Southeast Asia. The exemplary simulations of two important regions, Singapore and the Pearl River Delta, reveal major transport pathways of DBPs and anthropogenic bromoform concentrations in the sea surface. Based on our simulations, we expect DBPs to spread into the open ocean, along the coast and through advection with monsoon-driven currents into the North Pacific and Indian Ocean. Furthermore, anthropogenic bromoform concentrations and emissions are predicted to increase locally around large harbours. In the sea surface around Singapore, we estimate an increase in bromoform concentration by 9 % compared to recent measurements. In a moderate scenario in which 70 % of the ballast water is chemically treated, bromoform emissions to the atmosphere can locally exceed 1000 pmol m−2 h−1 and double climatological emissions. In the Pearl River Delta all bromoform is directly outgassed, which leads to an additional bromine (Br) input into the atmosphere of 495 kmol Br a−1 (∼42 t CHBr3). For Singapore ports the additional atmospheric Br input is calculated as 312 kmol Br a−1 (∼ 26 t CHBr3). We estimate a global anthropogenic Br input from ballast water into the atmosphere of up to 13 Mmol a−1. This is 0.1 % of global Br input from background bromoform emissions and thus not relevant for stratospheric ozone depletion.

Water pollution generated by accidental spill of hazardous materials is a growing problem worldwide. There is an urgent need for a tool that would help environmental response teams perform rapid understanding of the location and the extent of the spill to effectively establish an appropriate response. This paper presents a cooperative robotic system for environmental monitoring consisting of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) and an autonomous unmanned surface vehicle (USV). The main contributions of the paper are a systematic description of the design and implementation of the proposed cooperative robotic system, a novel human-on-the-loop (HOTL) approach applied on the system for environmental monitoring, and demonstration of the results of the open-sea experiments on pollution deliberately caused by harmless Rhodamine water tracing (WT), carried out in Cartagena, Spain, in June 2015. The proposed HOTL system provides near real-time pollution measurement data, while not consuming a significant amount of human time and effort. It supports decision-making and allows the operator to initiate the most adequate mission in a current situation, i.e., ensures mission change on-the-fly. While the AUV samples the ocean, the USV maintains the localization and communication data transfer to the control center and corrects the AUV's dead reckoning error.

An overview on the diversity of 39 lectins from the phylum Porifera is presented, including 38 lectins, which were identified from the class of demosponges, and one lectin from the class of hexactinellida. Their purification from crude extracts was mainly performed by using affinity chromatography and gel filtration techniques. Other protocols were also developed in order to collect and study sponge lectins, including screening of sponge genomes and expression in heterologous bacterial systems. The characterization of the lectins was performed by Edman degradation or mass spectrometry. Regarding their physiological roles, sponge lectins showed to be involved in morphogenesis and cell interaction, biomineralization and spiculogenesis, as well as host defense mechanisms and potentially in the association between the sponge and its microorganisms. In addition, these lectins exhibited a broad range of bioactivities, including modulation of inflammatory response, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities, as well as anticancer and neuromodulatory activity. In view of their potential pharmacological applications, sponge lectins constitute promising molecules of biotechnological interest.

Abstract In the study we present results of stable isotope analysis (δ18O, δ13C) of two stalagmites (SPD-1 and SPD-2) from Strasna pec Cave, situated on Dugi otok Island in the Central Adriatic region. The growth interval of the speleothems based on U-Th dating covers the period from 4.4 ka to 1.5 ka. Both speleothems show frequent δ18O and δ13C fluctuations with similar average values (δ18O value of -4‰ for both speleothems; and average value of δ13C-8.5‰ and −8.8‰, respectively). In order to reconstruct the Holocene climatic conditions in the Eastern Adriatic, the speleothem isotopic record is discussed and compared with other Holocene records. They reveal periods of drought which occurred at 4.3–4 ka and around 3.5 ka, with relatively wet phases between. From 3 ka, there is a general trend towards dryness as evidentiated by the relatively high δ18O values of -3.5‰ to -2.5‰ recorded in speleothem SPD-1. There is distinct trend of drying during the Roman Warm Period and further toward the Dark Age Cold Period (DACP) with shorter periods of wetter conditions. These changes coincide well with the other records, thus revealing regional events along the Eastern Adriatic.