Effects of the Nestucca Oil Spill on Seabirds Along the Coast of Vancouver Island in 1989
Description:... On 23 December 1988, the oil barge Nestucca was damaged off Gray's Harbour, Washington and began leaking, spilling about 875,000 litres of Bunker C oil that drifted northwards, leading to widespread oiling of beaches along the coasts of Washington and Vancouver Island and the heavy mortality of seabirds. This report documents the impact of the Nestucca spill on seabirds based on the data collected from British Columbia. The report documented the numbers, types, degree of oiling, and state of decomposition of the birds recovered on Vancouver Island; compared the species composition of the oiled birds with that of offshore and inshore populations wintering off southwest Vancouver Island; estimated the total number of oiled birds to land on Vancouver Island, taking into account the large numbers of carcasses not tallied; estimated the total at-sea mortality represented by the birds recovered on Vancouver Island, taking into account the losses of carcasses at sea; compared the Nestucca victims with normal seabird mortality off Vancouver Island; and assessed the impact of the spill on predatory and scavenging birds on Vancouver Island.
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