Carter and Kuletz 



Chapter 26 



Mortality Due to Oil Pollution 



have been killed. One dead oiled Marbled Murrelet was 

 recovered. On 1 July 1986, 62 murrelets were counted in the 

 Striped Peak Headland area near the spill location (Kittle 

 and others 1987), indicating that local breeding birds probably 

 were affected. 



1986 Apex Houston: In February 1986, the tank barge 

 Apex Houston spilled 26,100 gals (616 bbls) of crude oil 

 between San Francisco and Monterey (Ford and others 1987, 

 Page and Carter 1986. Page and others 1990). A total of 4,198 

 birds were recovered and about 10,600 birds were estimated 

 to have been killed, based on carcass and live bird counts 

 from searched and unsearched coastal areas, as well as birds 

 lost at sea. A total of 1 1 Marbled Murrelets were estimated to 

 have been killed: three were found dead on beaches, two live 

 birds were turned into rehabilitation centers, and another six 

 birds were estimated to have died and washed ashore in 

 coastal areas not searched (Carter and Erickson 1988, 1992; 

 Page and others 1990; Siskin and others 1991). This mortality 

 probably was significant for the small, declining local breeding 

 population in central California (Singer and Carter 1992). 

 Acquisition of old-growth forest nesting habitat in central 

 California with restoration funds obtained through recent 

 litigation is indicated in the Consent Decree signed in 1994. 



1988 Barge MCN5: In January 1988, this barge spilled 

 72,000 gals (1,700 bbls) of gasoline and oil near Anacortes, 

 Washington (Burger and Fry 1993). No bird mortalities 

 were reported. 



1988 Nestucca: In December 1988, the Nestucca spilled 

 231.000 gals (5,500 bbls) of bunker oil off Grays Harbor, 

 Washington, with oil extending as far north as Vancouver 

 Island. British Columbia (Burger 1990, 1992; Ford and others 

 1991b). A total of 12,535 live and dead birds were recorded 

 and an estimated 56.000 birds were killed. Only two Marbled 

 Murrelets were recovered along the outer Washington coast 

 (Ford and others 1991b) although about 50 murrelet deaths 

 could be extrapolated from the sample of dead birds recovered 

 on Vancouver Island beaches; 120-150 were estimated to have 

 been killed there (Burger 1990, 1992; Rodway and others 

 1989. 1992). Oiled carcasses recovered on Vancouver Island 

 may have included some local birds and some carcasses that 

 were passively transported across the border from Washington. 



1990 American Trader. In February 1990, the oil tanker 

 American Trader ran onto its own anchor and spilled 400,000 

 gals (7,000 bbls) of crude oil off Huntingdon Beach, in 

 southern California (Oceanor 1990). Hundreds of birds were 

 recovered on shore. No murrelets were found, possibly because 

 few occur along the southern California coast during winter. 



1991 Texaco Anacortes: In February 1991, a small spill 

 (200,000 gals; 4.760 bbls) of crude oil occurred from an 

 onshore facility at Fidalgo Bay near Anacortes. Washington. 

 No murrelets were found dead in the immediate vicinity of 

 the facility (Momot, pers. comm.). 



1991 Tenyo Maru: In July 1991, the Tenyo Maru fish 

 packer struck another vessel off the Olympic Peninsula, 

 Washington, spilling 99.000 gals (2,360 bbls) of bunker and 

 diesel oil. About 45 Marbled Murrelet carcasses were 



recovered on beaches (Benkert, pers. comm.), representing 

 the largest recovery of oiled murrelets after a spill, excepting 

 the Exxon Valdez spill. Total estimates of 200-400 birds 

 have been derived (Warheit, pers. comm.). This mortality 

 represents a significant proportion of local breeding 

 populations. These murrelets probably belonged to western 

 Washington populations, which also have been heavily 

 impacted by loss of old-growth forest nesting habitat (Hamer, 

 this volume). This oil spill is in the process of litigation, so a 

 full assessment of population impacts to murrelets is not 

 currently available. 



1992 Avila Beach: In August 1992, a spill of about 

 16,800 gals (400 bbls) of crude oil occurred while loading a 

 tanker at Avila Beach in southcentral California. No murrelets 

 were found during NRDA work (Kelly, pers. comm.), 

 possibly because few birds occur along this part of the coast 

 throughout the year. 



A great variety of other medium and large spills have 

 occurred off the Alaska, California, and Washington coasts 

 since 1968 (especially prior to 1980) without adequate 

 documentation of their impacts on seabirds. At least 7 significant 

 spills (between 300-300,000 gals) have occurred on the west 

 coast of Vancouver Island between 1972 and 1984 without 

 documentation of mortalities (Burger 1992, Kay 1989). 



Chronic Oil Pollution in California, 

 Oregon, Washington, and 

 British Columbia 



Chronic oil pollution, which includes small oil spills, 

 bilge dumping, seeps, etc., have occurred continuously 

 throughout this century. Chronic oil pollution has been 

 documented very poorly in California, Oregon, Washington, 

 and British Columbia, making an assessment of impacts 

 difficult There are sporadic reports of oiled murrelets separate 

 from known large and medium spills in the literature, especially 

 in California. Streator (1947) noted "many dead on the beach, 

 oil soaked" in Santa Cruz County. Munro (1957) noted single 

 dead oiled murrelets on 21 December 1953, 31 January 1954, 

 and 9 January 1957 at Morro Bay in San Luis Obispo county. 

 One dead oiled murrelet was found at Las Varas Ranch 

 Beach in Santa Barbara County on 21 September 1976 (Stenzel 

 and others 1988). Two murrelets were found on 26 April 

 1986 on Hope Ranch Beach, Santa Barbara County (Carter 

 and Erickson 1988). 



The only direct means to assess potential impacts of 

 chronic oiling is through beached bird surveys. In California, 

 the Point Reyes Bird Observatory coordinated an extensive 

 beached bird survey program throughout much of the state 

 from 1971-1985 (Stenzel and others 1988). Only 23 dead 

 Marbled Murrelets were identified on beaches throughout 

 this period. Marbled Murrelets were probably under- 

 represented because: (1) low sampling effort occurred in 

 northern California where most murrelets occur, (2) counts 

 usually were conducted monthly and small alcid carcasses 

 may not have persisted long enough to be counted on beaches; 



USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-152. 1995. 



267 



