SYMPOSIA PAPER Published: 01 January 1995
STP19881S

Surveys of Murre Colony Attendance in the Northern Gulf of Alaska Following the Oil Spill

Source

Field surveys were conducted in July and August 1991 on 32 of the 36 murre (Uria spp.) colonies in the northern Gulf of Alaska to assess colony attendance (number of birds present at a colony) two years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The surveys focused on murre colonies because murres represented 74% of the recovered seabird carcasses and because it had been claimed that there was large-scale mortality of murres, leading to 60% to 70% decreases at some large colonies and population recovery periods of 20 to 70 years.

Murres were present at all 32 colonies, and colony attendance estimates were generally similar to those from historical (prespill) surveys, particularly for those colonies in the direct path of the spill, i.e., the Barren Islands and Chiswell Islands. Colony attendance levels in 1991 do not support the contention that murre colony attendance in the study area was drastically lower than historical levels. When colonies were grouped according to risk of oil exposure, the mean changes in attendance between 1991 and historical murre surveys did not differ significantly among the groups. Factors that could account for the observed similarity of 1991 and historical murre counts despite the high estimated mortality are (1) overestimation of mortality or (2) replacement of lost breeders through either recruitment of formerly nonbreeding individuals into the breeding population at spill-affected colonies or immigration of murres from nonaffected colonies. The findings of this study suggest that impacts of the Exxon Valdez oil spill on murre colony attendance in the northern Gulf of Alaska were relatively short-term.

Author Information

Erikson, DE
, Fritz Creek, AK
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Details
Developed by Committee: E47
Pages: 780–819
DOI: 10.1520/STP19881S
ISBN-EB: 978-0-8031-5293-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-8031-1896-6