Winter marine bird and sea otter abundance of Prince William Sound, Alaska: Trends following the t/v Exxon Valdez oil spill from 1990-94. Restoration project 94159. Exxon Valdez oil spill restoration project final report

Technical Report · Mon May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1995

OSTI ID:371072

Agler, B A; Seiser, P E; Kendall, S J; Irons, D B

We conducted small boat surveys to determine population abundance of marine birds and sea otters (Enhydra lutris) in Prince William Sound, Alaska during March 1994. We observed 45 bird and 8 mammal species in Prince William Sound, and we estimated that 320,470 + or - 63,640 marine birds were present. We estimated trends in the March population estimates from 1990-94 by determining whether estimates in the oiled zone changed at the same rate as those in the unoiled zone. For Prince William Sound as a whole, we also examined the population trends from 1990-94 using regression analyses. We found significant positive trends for harlequin duck (Histrionicus), goldeneye, merganser, bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) and gull (Larus and Rissa spp.) populations. We also examined the relative abundance of marine bird species groups from 1972 to 1994. During March 1994, we estimated that the sea otter population was 7,746 + or - 2,073 otters. We found no difference in the rate of change between the oiled and unoiled zones from 1990-94, and there was no significant trend in the total number of sea otters in Prince William Sound from 1990-94.

• Research Organization: Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage, AK (United States)
• OSTI ID: 371072
• Report Number(s): PB-96-194881/XAB; TRN: 62392969
• Resource Relation: Other Information: PBD: May 1995
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
56 BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
APPLIED STUDIES
02 PETROLEUM
OIL SPILLS
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
ALASKA
MARINE SURVEYS
BIRDS
POPULATION DYNAMICS
BIOLOGICAL RECOVERY
OTTERS