Sea otter abundance, distribution, and pup production in Prince William Sound following the Exxon Valdez oil spill
Conference
·
OSTI ID:382777
- ABR, Inc., Fairbanks, AK (United States)
- Minnesota Dept. of Natural Resources, Grand Rapids, MN (United States)
The authors investigated effects of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill on the abundance, distribution, and pup production of sea otters (Enhydra lutris) in prince William Sound (PWS) by comparing counts made during 1990 and 1991 with counts made by researchers 5--12 years before the spill. The authors observed no evidence of avoidance or attraction to spill-affected shorelines 1--2 years after the spill. Despite a substantial loss of sea otters immediately following the spill, the authors counted fewer otters than prespill investigators at only one of three heavily oiled islands, and from 1990 to 1991 the counts at this one site increased to a level equivalent to the latest (1985) prespill count. The authors followed the methods of prespill investigators and found close agreement between the counts of otters and those of two other concurrent investigations using the same survey technique. This agreement among counts, and the involvement in counts made prespill, suggested that inter-observer variability could not explain the unexpected high counts at oiled sites. 52 refs., 18 figs., 5 tabs.
- OSTI ID:
- 382777
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-930442--; ISBN 0-8031-1896-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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