EFFECT OF OIL POLLUTIOlSr ON MARINE AND WILD LIFE 177 



He gfoes on to state that his immediate vicinity has the average 

 number of wild fowl found in emaciated condition and sometimes 

 dead with their feathers saturated with heavy oils. His observations 

 regarding the effects of oil on fish and shellfish coincide closely 

 with the views already given on this subject. 



The supervisor of New York Harbor, who has direct administra- 

 tion of the laws relative to the throwing of waste material into the 

 harbor, informed the authors that he had reports that certain fish 

 were now caught in the harbor for the first time in four years. 



One investigator writes as follows : * 



* * *. I made some rather extended investigations relative to this matter, 

 but my work was all directed to the study of the effect of certain oils upon 

 shellfish, chiefly oysters. 



My results can be summarized briefly by saying that the amounts of 

 petroleum and certain other oils that are sufficient to cause any deleterious 

 effects upon oysters, other than oyster larvte, are suprisingly large. These 

 amounts are far in excess of any quantities that could possibly be held in sand 

 or mud on the bottoms of rivers or bays. 



According to a report prepared for the authors by E. F. Moran, 

 of New York, fishing in the harbor and adjacent waters had become 

 insignificant by 1921; while an officer of Coast Guard station No. 92 

 (Rockaway Beach, Long Island), reported that ducks and birds are 

 made helpless when in oil. He had had personal experience with 

 wild fowl unable to fly on account of oil-covered feathers. The vice 

 president of the American Game Protective and Propagation Associa- 

 tion, New York, has seen many wild ducks that have come in contact 

 with floating oil, both along the seaboard and in the interior. In 

 his opinion this menace to wild water fowl kills thousands of ducks 

 every year. Once the feathers of the bird become coated with oil 

 he is doomed, due to loss of the power of flight and consequent 

 inability to obtain food. 



The commissioner of fisheries of the Commonwealth of Penn- 

 sylvania wrote as follows: 



* * *. This department is very much interested in the subject of oil 

 pollution, not only of navigable waters but of inland waters as well, and our 

 surveys show that in the oil-producing .regions very much harm has been done 

 by the wastes from the wells and refineries. This waste not only causes a 

 thin film of oil to float on the surface of the streams, which, of course, is 

 death to the tiny fishes, but it also creates a condition on the bottom of the 

 stream that is detrimental and destructive so far as the natural propagation 

 of the fish is concerned. 



The surveys made by this department along the Delaware River in the tidal 

 section lead us to believe that the oil and sludge from refineries and oil- 

 carrying vessels has done more to destroy fishing in that portion of the river 

 than has any other single cause. It has become so serious during the last 

 few years that this department has been unable to collect any of the spawn 

 of the shad, whereas in former years, before we had this to contend with, 

 we were able to collect anywhere from 25,000,000 to 75,000,000 eggs during a 

 season, and shad fishing was worth while. 



The president of the New Jersey State fish and game commission 

 stated that he was not in a position to furnish authentic data regard- 

 ing the condition that existed on the New Jersey coast. He has 

 been more concerned with the pollution of inland streams, which 

 affects the planting of fish by his department. He did state, how- 

 ever, that due to industrial and oil pollution from ships the Hacken- 



* Personal communication to the authors. 



