Assessment of Bacterial Activities within Shipwrecks along Iwafe Estuary of New Calabar River in Rivers State

Abstract

Qualitative assessment of bacterial activities within shipwrecks along Iwafe estuary of New Calabar River was studied. The study was aimed at identifying the various bacterial communities present in a shipwreck ecosystem in an estuary located in the Niger Delta.  Water, sediment and rusticle samples were collected aseptically from three shipwrecks submerged in the river and were subjected to Biological Activity Reaction Test (BARTS) to investigate the different bacterial activities within the shipwrecks. Three bacterial communities were identified, Heterotrophic Active Bacteria, (HAB), Iron Reducing Bacteria, (IRB) and the Sulphate Reducing Bacteria, (SRB). In less than 24hrs after incubation the HAB test for all the samples showed complete aerobic activity producing a predicted population of 5.4X106 Pac/ml for water, 5.4X106 Pac/g for sediments and rusticles. The days of delay (dd) revealed the presence of SRB in the sediment and rusticle samples only. Shipwrecks ecosystem in New Calabar Estuary showed bacterial involvement, in corrosion processes even in shallow water ecosystem.