Population, Reproduction and Foraging of Pigeon Guillemots at Naked Island,Alaska, Before and After the EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill. Bird Study Number 9. EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill State/Federal Natural Resource Damage Assessment Final Report

摘要

Following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska,we studied pigeon guillemots (Cepphus columba) breeding just 30 km from the grounding site. The post-spill population was 43% less than the pre-spill population, but we could not attribute the entire decline to the spill because a decline in the PWS guillemot population may have predated the spill. However, relative declines in the population were greater along oiled shorelines, suggesting that the spill was responsible for some of the decline. The most likely explanation for the few effects observed is that oil was present on the surface waters of the study area for a relatively short period before the guillemots returned to begin their annual reproductive activities.