Total Direct Mortality of Seabirds from the EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill. Bird Study211 Number 1. EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill State/Federal Natural Resource Damage Assessment 211 Final Report

摘要

An estimate of total mortality of seabirds from the Exxon Valdez oil spill was211u001ederived from numbers of carcasses collected on shore. The processes leading to 211u001ecarcass collection were modeled to account for sinking of oiled birds at sea, 211u001eremoval from the beach by scavengers, and incomplete search effort. To determine 211u001erates of loss of oiled birds at sea, radio-tagged carcasses were tracked by 211u001eaircraft and boat. Eight groups totaling 184 carcasses were tracked in spring and 211u001esummer 1990; four groups were released in Prince William Sound and four in the 211u001eGulf of Alaska off Kodiak Island. Assuming the birds drifted passively with the 211u001eoil, the rate function of loss of birds as sea was pplied to probably point-of-211u001eoiling were located with survey data gathered in the Outer Continental Shelf 211u001eEnvironmental Assessment Program and by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Point 211u001eof oiling and path of drift to each beach were determined with the National 211u001eOceanic and Atmospheric (NOAA) HAZMAT oil trajectory model and NOAA overflights. 211u001eScavenging rates were estimated from field studies in Prince William Sound and on 211u001ethe outer coast of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington, in which oiled carcassed 211u001ewere monitored daily.