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

December 15, 2004, Weather is once again interfering in wildlife operations, with gale warnings forecast through Thursday, gusts to 50 and seas to 20 feet. Conditions yesterday were too rough to go ashore in bays as well. Biologists working in skiffs off the Cape Flattery captured 4 oiled live birds and saw others. Captured birds included 1 horned grebe, 1 pelagic cormorant, 1 common murre, and 1 duck, probably a harlequin (unconfirmed); all taken from the south arm of Skan Bay. The birds have been returned to the Cape Flattery and will be flown by helicopter for treatment in Dutch Harbor, as weather permits. Two otters were observed yesterday in the south arm of Skan Bay; the animals were evasive and it was impossible for the skiff crew to determine if they were oiled. Communications via satellite phone remain intermittent.

For an updated oil map and booming progress, please refer to the Incident Action Plan for December 15 - 16.