Mechanisms of Impact and Potential Recovery of Nearshore Vertebrate Predators Following the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. Volume Two. Appendices;Final rept

摘要

The 1989 spill of some 42 million L of crude oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska, represents not only the largest tanker spill in United States history, but the world's largest spill in northern waters. Acute effects have been studied extensively. However, efforts to quantify the spill's long-term chronic effects and develop defensible restoration measures have been plagued by varying levels of scientific uncertainty. That such uncertainty exists is not unexpected. The spill occurred in Prince William Sound's highly variable physical setting typified by its complex oceanography and fjord-like geomorphology. Additionally, uncertainty was driven by the scarcity of precise pre-spill population estimates and spotty life-history information for most species. The research reported herein in, structured in eight primary papers and 27 supporting papers (appendices), documents the state of recovery and assessments of continuing constraints to population recovery for four vertebrate predators (sea otter Enhydra lutris, harlequin duck Histrionicus histrionicus, river otter Lontra Canadensis, and pigeon guillemot Cepphus columba) whose recovery status remained uncertain some 5 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. This report is Volume 2, Appendices.