Comparing an estimate of seabirds at risk to a mortality estimate from the November 2004 Terra Nova FPSO oil spill

On 21 November 2004, about 1000 barrels of crude oil were accidentally released from the Terra Nova FPSO (floating production, storage and offloading) onto the Grand Banks, approximately 340 km east-southeast of St. John's, Newfoundland. We estimated the number of vulnerable seabirds (murres (Uria spp.) and dovekies (Alle alle)) at risk from this incident by multiplying observed densities of seabirds with the total area covered by the slick, estimated at 793 km(2). A mean density of 3.46 murres/km(2) and 1.07 dovekies/km(2) on the sea surface was recorded during vessel-based surveys on 28 and 29 November 2004, with a mean density of 6.90 murres/km(2) and 13.43 dovekies/km(2) combining those on the sea and in flight. We calculated a mean of 9858 murres and dovekies were at risk of being oiled, with estimates ranging from 3593 to 16,122 depending on what portion of birds in flight were assumed to be at risk. A mortality model based on spill volume was derived independently of the risk model, and estimated that 4688 (CI 95%: 1905-12,480) birds were killed during this incident. A low mortality estimate based strictly on spill volume would be expected for this incident, which occurred in an area of relatively high seabird densities. Given that the risk and mortality estimates are statistically indistinguishable, we estimate that on the order of 10,000 birds were killed by the Terra Nova spill.     

Depositional history of organic contaminants in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, USA

Sediment cores were taken at three locations in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, USA in 1997 and analyzed for a variety of organic contaminants including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chlordanes, linear alkyl benzenes (LABs), benzotriazoles (BZTs) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs) and metabolites. The distributions of these chemicals at Apponaug Cove and in the Seekonk River indicate that there was a disturbance in the depositional environment relative to cores collected at these locations in 1986 demonstrating the potential for buried contaminants to be remobilized in the environment even after a period of burial. Sharp breaks in the concentration of several organic markers with known dates of introduction were successfully used to determine the sedimentation rate at Quonset Point. Both the Quonset Point and Seekonk River cores had subsurface maximums for DDTs, PCBs, PAHs and BZTs, which are consistent with expected inputs to the environment. The Apponaug Cove core showed an increase of most contaminants at the surface indicating a recent event in which more contaminated sediments were deposited at that location.