Anthropogenic oil contamination on, or in the vicinity
of, coral reefs may occur from a variety of sources,
including exploration and mining, transfer and transportation
of bulk oil, shore based refinery operations, and
minor spills from smaller vessels. Even small volumes of
oil spilled in the marine environment have the capacity to
affect a large area, with one litre of oil capable of
spreading to cover an area of up to 4 000 m2 (MSPE
1988). Spilled oil may not only have acute impacts, but
trapping of oil in sediments, or ongoing operational or
repetitive accidental discharges, may result in chronic
exposure of marine habitats to oil hydrocarbon
contaminants over a prolonged period (Burns et al. 1994,
Dodge et al. 1995).