What Did the West 

 Falmouth Studies 

 Show? 



Taken together, the several research 

 efforts directed at the West Falmouth 

 spill provide irrefutable evidence of the 

 effects of this particular spill. Contam- 

 ination with oil from the barge Florida 

 was demonstrated by chemical analysis 

 and correlated with ecological impacts 

 ranging from mortality to behavioral 

 disturbances. 



Effects of the West Falmouth 

 Oil Spill 



• There was severe local mortality 

 of the plants and animals of inter- 

 tidal marsh and subtidal soft- 

 bottom communities. 



• Impacted communities required 

 years for recovery. Communities 

 in early recovery phases were 

 characterized by reduced species 

 numbers, dominance of oppor- 

 tunistic species, and large fluc- 

 tuations in populations. 



• The No. 2 fuel oil was persistent, 

 especially in the sponge-like 

 marsh areas which served as a 

 source of recontamination by 

 continuously oozing oil. Years 

 after the spill, traces of fuel oil 

 were found in plants and animals 

 of oiled areas. The recovery 

 capacity of the communities was 

 compromised by the persistent 

 and shifting fuel oil. 



• Sublethal effects of chronic oil 

 pollution were apparent for at 

 least seven years after the spill. 



Pollution Effects on 

 Marsh Ecosystems 



• The dominance of opportunistic 

 species in recovering commun- 

 ities reduces the diversity of food 

 items offered to bottom feeders, 

 thereby interfering with the nor- 

 mal transfer of energy from lower 

 to higher levels of the food web, 

 including man. 



• Loss of marsh grass reduces the 

 effectiveness of a marsh as a 

 nursery area for marine organ- 

 isms, a runoff water purification 

 system, and a land stabilization 

 mechanism. 



Are These Effects 

 Significant? 



Pollution impacts are often con- 

 sidered in terms of financial loss. This 

 type of loss certainly occurred at West 

 Falmouth where the local shellfishing 

 and tourist industries experienced im- 

 mediate and obvious damage. But we 

 must also recognize the importance of 

 a healthy biosphere to man. Recreation 

 and aesthetic enjoyment are aspects of 

 a healthy environment that are certainly 

 important. Beyond aesthetics are the 

 basic life support services that nature 

 provides for humans and all other 

 organisms. At the most fundamental 

 level, these include the provision of 

 clean air and water, and the transforma- 

 tion of solar energy into usable food 

 items. These natural life support services 

 are provided by complex interactions 

 between different types of organisms 

 and their environments: the functioning 

 ecosystem. Control mechanisms have 

 evolved to form systems that are 

 resilient by virtue of their complexity. 

 Scientific studies clearly show that 

 pollution and the altering of habitats 

 challenge the resiliency of natural 

 ecosystems and undermine the func- 

 tioning of nature as a life support 

 system. 



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