Marine Mammals and the Exxon Valdez

The oil spill disaster that occurred when the Exxon Valdez ran aground has become part of the iconography of ecological disaster. This book synthesizes previously confidential data only recently released by the U.S. government. The data concerns the effects of this nightmarish spill on marine mammals, such as sea otters, harbor seals, killer whales, and humpback whales. Because many of the book's contributors were on site within 24 hours of this 11 million gallon catastrophe, the book is a unique longitudinal study of the demise of an ecosystem due to a single acute environmental perturbation.
These certain-to-be-influential results reported here should assist marine biologists, pathologists, toxicologists, environmentalists, engineers, and coastal planners in assessing the nature of this now legendary disaster.

Contenu

Overview of the EXXON VALDEZ Oil Spill. Response Activities. An Overview of Sea Otter Studies in Prince William Sound. Boat-Based Population Surveys of Sea Otters in Prince William Sound. An Intersection Model for Estimating Sea Otter Mortality Along the Kenai Peninsula. Impacts on Distribution, Abundance, And Productivity of Harbor Seals. Impacts on Stellar Sea Lions. Status of Killer Whales in Prince William Sound, 1985-1982. Assessment of Injuries to Prince William Sound Killer Whales. Impacts on Humpback Whales in Prince William Sound. Sea Otter Foraging Behavior and Hydrocarbon Levels in Prey. Observations of Oiling of Harbor Seals in Prince William Sound. Health Evaluation, Rehabilitation, And Release of Oiled Harbor Seal Pups. Effects of Masking Noise on Detection Thresholds of Killer Whales. Cetaceans in Oil. Pathology of Sea Otters. Gross Necropsy and Histopathological Lesions Found in Harbor Seals. Hydrocarbon Residues in Sea Otter Tissues. Hydrocarbon Contaminants in Harbor Seals in Prince William Sound and the Gulf of Alaska. Tissue Hydrocarbon Levels and the Number Cetaceans Found Dead After the Spill. Conclusions.