Marbled Murrelet Abundance and Breeding Activity at Naked Island, Prince WilliamSound, and Kachemak Bay, Alaska, Before and After the EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill. Bird Study Number 6. EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill State/Federal Natural Resource Damage Assessment Fina

摘要

The author compared pre- and post-spill abundance and breeding activity ofmurrelets near the Naked Island group in central Prince William Sound, and in Kachemak Bay in lower Cook Inlet. Murrelet numbers at Naked Island were lower in 1989 than in 1978-1980 but not in 1990-1992. At Kachemak Bay, where oiling was minimal, murrelet densities did not change between 1988 and 1989. The results suggest that the murrelet population at Kachemak Bay, further removed temporally and spatially from the spill epicenter, was not affected as the Naked Island populations in 1989. Murrelet numbers were negatively correlated to numbers of boats at both study sites, and cleanup activities likely contributed to disruption in 1989.