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Prolonged high biomass diatom blooms induced formation of hypoxic-anoxic zones in the inner part of Johor Strait

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Abstract

The Johor Strait has experienced rapid development of various human activities and served as the main marine aquaculture area for the two countries that bordered the strait. Several fish kill incidents in 2014 and 2015 have been confirmed, attributed to the algal blooms of ichthyotoxic dinoflagellates; however, the cause of fish kill events after 2016 was not clarified and the causative organisms remained unknown. To clarify the potential cause of fish kills along the Johor Strait, a 1-year field investigation was conducted with monthly sampling between May 2018 and April 2019. Monthly vertical profiles of physical water parameters (temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen levels) were measured in situ at different depths (subsurface, 1 m, 5 m, and 8 m) depending on the ambient depth of the water column at the sampling stations. The spatial-temporal variability of macronutrients and chlorophyll a content was analyzed. Our results showed that high chlorophyll a concentration (up to 48.8 μg/L) and high biomass blooms of Skeletonema, Chaetoceros, Rhizosolenia, and Thalassiosira were observed seasonally at the inner part of the strait. A hypoxic to anoxic dead zone, with the dissolved oxygen levels ranging from 0.19 to 1.7 mg/L, was identified in the inner Johor Strait, covering an estimated area of 10.3 km2. The occurrence of high biomass diatom blooms and formation of the hypoxic-anoxic zone along the inner part Johor Strait were likely the culprits of some fish kill incidents after 2016.

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Funding

This work was supported by MOST China (IF029-2018), the Ministry of Education Malaysia (MOE) HiCoE fund (IOES-2014C) to PT Lim, MOE Transdisciplinary Research Grant Scheme (4L850) to MF Abdul-Wahab, and MOST China (2016YFE0202100) to H Gu. This forms part of the PhD project of M Mohd-Din.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

    Monaliza Mohd-Din, Mohd Firdaus Abdul-Wahab, Haryati Jamaluddin, Shafinaz Shahir & Zaharah Ibrahim

  2. Taiwan-Malaysia Innovation Center for Clean Water and Sustainable Energy (WISE Centre), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia

    Mohd Firdaus Abdul-Wahab

  3. Department of Environmental and Green Technology (EGT), Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 54100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Shaza Eva Mohamad

  4. Bachok Marine Research Station, Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya, 16310, Bachok, Kelantan, Malaysia

    Kieng Soon Hii, Chui Pin Leaw & Po Teen Lim

  5. Institute of Oceanography and Environment, University Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia

    Suh Nih Tan

  6. Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen City, China

    Haifeng Gu

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  1. Monaliza Mohd-Din
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  2. Mohd Firdaus Abdul-Wahab
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  8. Suh Nih Tan
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  10. Haifeng Gu
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  11. Po Teen Lim
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Correspondence to Po Teen Lim.

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Mohd-Din, M., Abdul-Wahab, M.F., Mohamad, S.E. et al. Prolonged high biomass diatom blooms induced formation of hypoxic-anoxic zones in the inner part of Johor Strait. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 42948–42959 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10184-6

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