receive petroleum spillage. No birds were 

 seen along the fouled coastline. There was no 

 indication that any bird life on the atoll had 

 been killed or harmed by the spill. 



UNDERWATER SURVEYS 



Underwater surveys were made (1) in the 

 vicinity of the R. C. Stoner . (2) 2.5 km south- 

 east of the harbor entrance, (3) on the reef 

 flats and reef fronts about 1 km southeast of 

 the harbor entrance, and (4) on Wilkes Island 

 about 300 to 400 m northwest of the R. C. Stoner 

 (Figure 1). Dives were also made in the lagoon 

 and in uncontaminated areas along the north- 

 westerly reefs. The lagoon supports a large 

 population of fish. Had large quantities of pe- 

 troleum products entered this shallow enclosed 

 area mortality would probably have been very 

 high. No dead fish were seen in the water at 

 any of these places. 



The Vicinity of the V/reck 



During survey 1 the ocean around the R. C. 

 Stoner contained a considerable amount of what 

 was probably jet fuel that had emulsified with 

 the water which was a dirty straw color to a 



depth of 7 m or more. This contamination was 

 sufficient to cause skin irritation and after 

 an hour we were covered with a light oily film 

 and were in much discomfort. Itching and ten- 

 derness of the skin in the more sensitive areas 

 persisted for several days. 



Many fish were seen on the reef around the 

 wreck. Most of them were on the bottom (10- 

 12 m) where the water was less contaminated. 

 Many were within 2-3 m of the ship. Curiously, 

 we saw numerous individuals of the leatherback 

 runner, Chorinemus sanctipetri (Figure 8). 

 frequently come up and swim around in the 

 upper 3 m of water where the pollution was 

 heaviest. At the after end of the vessel the 

 water was so contaminated that we dared not 

 swim around the stern. In spite of this, we saw 

 leatherback runners swimming in this area, 

 with no apparent ill effects. We thought that 

 the combination of irritation and oiliness would 

 have a deleterious effect, particularly on the 

 gills. However, individual fish may have re- 

 mained in the contaminated water for brief 

 periods only. 



The coral heads immediately seaward of the 

 wreck and from 3 to 15 m from it were well 

 populated with fish. These included parrot- 



N. 



Figure 8. --Leatherback runners, Llmr i i 

 heavily contaminated with jet fuel. 



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