Pacific Southwest Research Station

Pacific Southwest Research Station
800 Buchanan Street
West Annex Building
Albany, CA 94710-0011

(510) 559-6300

Research TopicsWildlife & Fish: Bird Monitoring

Marine Oil Spill Monitoring Methods

Two oil spills have occurred in Humboldt Bay, California, during the years we have been conducting offshore research on Marbled Murrelets.

• In 1997, the M/V Kure ruptured its hull while docking and spilled approximately 4,500 gallons of bunker fuel oil into Humboldt Bay (http://www.dfg.ca.gov/ospr/spill/nrda/nrda_kure.html).
• in 1999, the M/V Stuyvesant ruptured its hull with a dredge arm during dredging operations and caused a spill of approximately 2,000 gallons of bunker fuel oil near the entrance of Humboldt Bay and further out to sea (http://www.dfg.ca.gov/ospr/spill/nrda/nrda_stuy.html).

In both cases, the oil dispersed along the outer coastline, mainly north of the bay. We conducted surveys of mammals and birds in the bay and offshore for several weeks after both events to help inform the response, beginning with the day of each spill. This afforded us the unique opportunity to develop new techniques for assessing the impact of oil spills on the bird community. We have completed our oil spill monitoring protocol, which includes methods for recording the amount of oil on birds and on the water, building on our line transect survey methods. We are currently working on a manuscript based on these surveys.

Publications

• Ralph, C.J., P. Kelly, S.L. Miller, and W. Hogoboom. 1998. Methods to estimate effects on an oil spill on waterbirds in northern California (abstract). Pacific Seabirds 25(1):40.
• Ralph, C.J., S. Miller, and L. Long. 2010. Boat survey methodology for oil spill response. U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station, Redwood Sciences Laboratory, Arcata, California. 6 pp.

Last modified by L.L. Long

Research Contact:

• C.J. Ralph