which they are absorbed and metabolized 

 (Farrington 1977). 



Aside from these few examples, we have 

 found no studies of retention of petroleum hy- 

 drocarbons after oil spills. Neither have we 

 found studies of the uptake, retention, and 

 discharge of petroleum hydrocarbons taken in 

 with food. Some data suggest that food web 

 magnification of oil does not occur in certain 

 communities of marine organisms (Lee et al. 

 1972a, 1972b; Burns and Teal 1971, 1973; An- 

 derson 1973; Stegeman and Teal 1973). There 

 may, however, be magnification of the higher 

 boiling fractions of the contaminants higher 

 up in the food web (Burns and Teal 1971). 



Chemical communication is highly im- 

 portant among marine organisms, for both 

 interspecific and intraspecific message sys- 

 tems. Because very low concentrations of or- 

 ganic stimuli are required for communication, 

 such processes are especially susceptible to in- 

 terference by pollutants at low concentrations 

 (Blumer 1971; Blumer et al. 1973; Jacobson 

 and Boylan 1973; Atema and Stein 1972, 

 1974). 



Small quantities of crude oil (0.9 ml in 

 100 liters of sea water) interfere with some 

 specific, possibly chemosensory, behavior of 

 the lobster (Homarus americanus). The delay 

 period between noticing food and going after 

 it doubled when oil was added. The water-sol- 

 uble fraction of the oil alone (in the 50-ppb 

 range) did not have a noticeable effect on be- 

 havior and feeding times. Morphological 

 changes in odor receptors after oil exposure 

 were not detected by light and electron 'mi- 

 croscopy. The results indicate that small 

 amounts of oil mixed in seawater constitute a 

 bad odor in the lobster's environment, de- 

 pressing its appetite and chemical excitability 

 (Blumer etal. 1973). 



Exposure of Marine Birds to Oil 



Following the 1969 spill of 650,000 to 

 700,000 liters of No. 2 fuel oil into Buzzards 

 Bay and the adjacent Wild Harbor Marsh 

 near West Falmouth, Massachusetts, essen- 

 tially all the marsh organisms living in the 

 contaminated area were affected; they all ac- 

 cumulated oil hydrocarbons in their tissues. 

 Two processes apparently occur as the oil 

 passes through the marsh ecosystem: a pro- 

 gressive loss in the straight chain hydrocar- 

 bons in relation to the branched chain, cyclic, 



and aromatic hydrocarbons, and a greater re- 

 tention of the higher-boiling fractions of the 

 contaminants by organisms higher in the food 

 chain (Burns and Teal 1971). 



Although its feathers were not oiled, a 

 herring gull (Larus argentatus) that was col- 

 lected in Wild Harbor had substantial 

 amounts (584 ppm) of the whole spectrum of 

 fuel oil hydrocarbons in its muscle but con- 

 tained mostly those with straight and slightly 

 branched chains. The brain of this bird also 

 contained high residues (535 ppm), but with a 

 higher proportion of the aromatic compounds. 

 Another herring gull, collected outside the 

 spill area, had much lower oil hydrocarbon 

 residues in its muscle (10 ppm) and brain 

 (15 ppm), and the aromatic compounds were 

 not detected in the brain (Burns and Teal 

 1971). 



Three birds that died in the 1971 San Fran- 

 cisco Bay oil spill contained very high resi- 

 dues of oil hydrocarbons in their tissues. A 

 composite sample of liver, kidney, brain, fat, 

 and heart tissue of a common murre (Uria 

 aalge) contained 8,820 ppm, composite liver 

 and kidney tissue of a surf scoter (Melanitta 

 perspicillata) contained 1,250 ppm, and the 

 liver of a western grebe (Aechmophorus occi- 

 dentalis) contained 9, 100 ppm oil hydrocar- 

 bons. The composite tissues (liver, kidney, 

 brain, fat, and muscle) of a murre that had not 

 been exposed to the oil spill contained no de- 

 tectable oil hydrocarbons (Snyder et al. 1973). 



Body fat of herring gulls breeding on Lake 

 Ontario in 1973 contained a number of aro- 

 matic hydrocarbons including several polynu- 

 clear aromatics. Naphthalene, 2-methyl-naph- 

 thalene, acetonaphthalene, and biphenyl were 

 identified from their retention times (Fox et 

 al. 1975). The sources of these aromatic hydro- 

 carbons remain undetermined. Accumulation 

 in the food chain from water or sediments 

 through fish is probable, but these com- 

 pounds, which presumably are of petroleum 

 origin, may have been ingested at garbage 

 dumps. Thus, it appears likely that aquatic 

 birds living in oil-polluted environments may 

 accumulate residues of the relatively more 

 persistent compounds. 



Biological Effects of Oil 

 on Marine Birds 



Aside from the reports on mortality and re- 

 habilitation of oiled birds, the biological ef- 



