This study was carried out to generate data pertaining to spatial distribution of PAHs immediately after an oil spill event in a near shore environment. The physico-chemical characteristics of the sea water after the oil spill event indicated pH variation between 7.69 and 8.06, temperature varied between 27.0 and 29.5°C, turbidity ranged from 1.1 to 7.6 NTU and salinity ranged from 17 to 26 mg/L. Highest PAH concentration of 84 ± 3.0 ng/L was recorded for benzo (a) pyrene, followed by fluorine, which was 77 ± 2.0 ng/L. However, the lowest concentration of 7.0 ± 2.0 ng/L was recorded for pyrene. The concentration of PAHs was significantly (p < 0.05) different at different sampling locations. Furthermore, the PAHs with less than three rings were present at all the studied locations, while those with more than four rings were recorded from six or less sampling location. Hence, it may be concluded on the basis of these results that the nature and distribution of PAHs is an important aspect, which needs to be assessed prior to delineating the oil spill management strategy.

Tar balls are frequently reported as indicators of extent of marine pollution owing to spill incidents. It has now been fairly established that the potential threat from operational or accidental oil spills from tankers and other oil related activities could lead to environmental pollution. The study represents the chemical analysis and source identification of tar balls appeared at Goa beach. Four tar balls samples were collected from several locations along the coast of the Goa and were analyzed for their acyclic and Poly Aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technique. Analysis of crude oil, burnt oil and weathered oils were also included as possible sources of tar balls. Comparison was carried out between the compounds found in tar balls with that of crude oil, burnt oil and weathered oil. This study indicates that, the major source of tar balls was likely to be crude oil as evident from the fingerprints obtained from the study performed on GC-MS.