Sixteen days after the Prestige tanker sank in the Northeast Atlantic (42º11'N, 12º02'W), a sampling campaign in the neighbouring water column was carried out in order to evaluate the posibility of zinc contamination due to the oil spill. Samples were taken in the water column (0–190 m) and in bottom waters –in the vicinity of the bow and stern– where the tanker lies (3520–3820 m). Total zinc concentrations found ranged from 14 to 571 nM, which are from one to two orders of magnitude higher than typical concentrations in these waters (0.2–3.2 nM). Therefore, a contamination by this metal, contained in the oil spilt from the tanks of the sunken ship, was detected. Zinc was also found to be a good tracer to detect the presence of fuel in those areas free of patches.