RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT ALONG COASTS 



193 



is limited by our relative ignorance of these 

 birds and their ecology. Just as there exists a 

 latitudinal gradient in the ecological stability 

 of the ecosystems involved, available knowl- 

 edge of these ecosystems is in inverse rela- 

 tionship to the latitude at which they occur. 

 Arctic bird associations and their fragile envi- 

 ronments are least understood but are doubt- 

 less the most vulnerable to the detrimental ef- 

 fects of man-caused environmental degrada- 

 tion. Existing technology and support system 

 capabilities of the oil industry are poorly de- 

 fined for Arctic areas, further compounding 

 this problem (Arctic Institute of North 

 America 1974). 



Although activities associated with the ex- 

 traction of hard minerals and the timber in- 

 dustry will ultimately affect northern seabirds, 

 petrochemical developments pose the most 

 immediate threat to this resource. Explora- 

 tion and development of many coastal and off- 

 shore sedimentary basins with a potential for 

 oil or gas production are proceeding rapidly. 

 Within a few years, oil storage and loading 

 facilities at Valdez, Alaska, and supertankers 

 plying northern waters will probably result in 

 widespread chronic and localized catastrophic 

 contamination of northern marine environ- 

 ments. Experience in other areas has demon- 

 strated that oil spills are a considerable poten- 

 tial threat to these bird populations, directly 

 through widespread mortality and indirectly 

 through effects on the environment. This 

 threat is of such magnitude that entire popu- 

 lations or species could be lost to a single spill 

 if it occurred at the wrong place at the wrong 

 time of year. Because many of these species 

 require 3 to 4 years for maturation and may 

 rear only one or two young per year, recovery 

 time for their populations is great (Ashmole 

 1971). For these and other reasons, the Coun- 

 cil on Environmental Quality (1974) con- 

 cluded that the Gulf of Alaska appeared more 

 vulnerable to major environmental damage 

 from outer continental shelf oil and gas de- 

 velopment than sites off the Atlantic coast. 



As Bartonek et al. (1971) pointed out, it 

 would be a national tragedy if the great non- 

 game bird populations along Alaska's coast 

 were decimated during the "Environmental 

 Decade" without even being properly de- 

 scribed. Regardless of information amassed in 

 the future and precautionary measures taken 



during exploitation of arctic petroleum re- 

 serves, the potential for disastrous and per- 

 haps irrecoverable losses to northern marine 

 bird species and populations is great. Losses 

 of major magnitude could appreciably alter 

 the productivity of northern marine ecosys- 

 tems, to the detriment of other renewable 

 resources. 



Knowledge of northern marine birds, their 

 environments, and their ecology must be 

 greatly expanded if the consequences of petro- 

 chemical exploitation are to be predicted and 

 safeguards established against potential 

 problems. To the extent possible, oil explora- 

 tion and development activities should be 

 limited to temperate, more stable, marine eco- 

 systems, at least until more northerly areas 

 are better understood. Similarly, these activi- 

 ties must be conducted in such places and at 

 such times that impact on the environment 

 will be minimized. State and federal govern- 

 ments and the petroleum industry are ulti- 

 mately answerable for this responsibility. 



The Nation must be aware of the potential 

 costs of energy independence set forth as a 

 goal of proposed oil and gas leasing of 

 Alaska's outer continental shelf. We must ask 

 ourselves if we are willing to risk extermina- 

 tion of species to reach this goal, or if we can 

 afford the luxury of reducing the biological 

 productivity of these waters. 



References 



Arctic Institute of North America. 1974. The Alas- 

 kan arctic coast a background study of avail- 

 able knowledge. 551 pp. 



Ashmole, N. P. 1971. Seabird ecology and the 

 marine environment. Pages 223-286 in D. S. 

 Farner and J. R. King, eds. Avian biology. Vol. I. 

 Academic Press, New York. 



Bailey, E. P., and G. H. Davenport. 1972. Die-off of 

 common murres on the Alaska Peninsula and 

 Unimak Island. Condor 74(2):215-219. 



Barry, T. W. 1968. Observations on natural mor- 

 tality and native use of eider ducks along the 

 Beaufort Sea coast. Can. Field-Nat. 82(2):140-144. 



Bartels, F. B. 1973. Bird survey techniques on 

 Alaska's north coast. M.S. Thesis. Iowa State 

 Univ., Ames. 47 pp. 



Bartonek, J. C., J. G. King, and H. K. Nelson. 1971. 

 Problems confronting migratory birds in Alaska. 

 Trans. N. Am. Wildl. Nat. Resour. Conf. 36:345- 

 361. 



