U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Response to Vessel Grounding/Oil Spill off Unalaska Island

December 10, 2004: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is responding to the grounding of the 738-foot cargo vessel M/V Selendang Ayu, off Unalaska Island in the Aleutian Islands. The vessel, carrying approximately 483,000 gallons of heavy bunker fuel oil and 21,000 gallons of diesel fuel, ran aground and broke apart on Wednesday, December 8. Six of the vessel’s crew members were lost in the rescue effort. The vessel is located between Skan Bay and Spray Cape (53° 38’ 04”, 167° 07’ 30”) on the western shore of Unalaska. The area is accessible only by water or air.

The lands in the spill area are managed as part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regional Spill Response Coordinator is directing the Service response from Dutch Harbor, Alaska. The Service response efforts are being conducted within the Unified Incident Command Structure, and Service biologists are directing wildlife response activities within this joint command.
The shoreline habitat in the vicinity includes sheltered rocky shores and gravel beaches. The Service is working to determine which fish and wildlife resources may be at risk from the oil. The area is rich in fish and wildlife species managed by the Service, including:

Species managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:
* Sea otters (proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act)
* Spectacled eiders (listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act)
* Steller’s eiders (listed as threatened)
* Short-tailed albatross (listed as endangered)

Species managed by the National Marine Fisheries Service:
* Steller sea lions (listed as endangered)
* Harbor seals
* Killer whales

Fish in the nearshore area include Atka mackerel, Pacific cod and Pacific halibut. Fish in the offshore Bering Sea include arrowtooth flounder, Pacific halibut, Pacific cod and sablefish. Fish in freshwater streams in the area include pink and sockeye salmon.

NOTE: THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH HAS BEEN UPDATED - SEE THE DECEMBER 11 ENTRY. There are no wintering concentrations of birds known to inhabit the spill area. However, in addition to various eider species, some harlequin ducks, scaup, auklets, murelets, kittwakes, scoters, loons, goldeneyes, horned puffins and glaucous-winged gull nesting colonies may be found. Bald eagles and emperor geese also inhabit the area.

THIS PARAGRAPH HAS BEEN CORRECTED: The Federal and State on-scene coordinators Unified Command is in the process of determining the best course of action for dealing with the wreck and minimizing further release of oil. Logistics, terrain and weather are all hampering response to the spill. It is not yet known how much oil has spilled or what species in the spill area have been affected by the spill. Weather will determine how the oil is dispersed and how crews on scene are able to respond. On an overflight on Thursday, Dec. 9, Fish and Wildlife Service personnel noted 28 sea lions, 10 sea otters, and one harbor seal. Seabirds were also observed in the area near the spill.