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

December 22, 2004: Not much change from yesterday, as weather continues to be what we've all learned by now to expect from an Aleutian winter. Gale and heavy freezing spray warnings continue. A third response vessel is being readied; this is the crabber Norseman, approximately the same size as the Exito (see photo gallery). F/V Norseman has an open work area on deck which will make it easier to continue wildlife survey and rescue work. Additionally, the Fish and Wildlife Service's M/V Tiglax is enroute to Dutch Harbor and should arrive Thursday morning. For latest totals on equipment resources such as amount of booming placed to date, number of helicopters, skimmers, and spill response vessels in operation, please check the Unified Command's most recent Incident Action Plan.:

Many new photos have been posted and are available in the following categories:
Satellite Images taken December 13, 2004
Oiled Wildlife and Habitat
Photos from the F/V Exito (skiff survey/rescue efforts)

Bird species at particular risk include loons, grebes, auklets, murres, cormorants, eiders, mergansers, black and surf white-winged scoters, and harlequins. Bald eagles and ravens can be poisoned or oiled when scavenging oiled carcasses. Steller's eiders and emperor geese numbers in the area are expected to increase as they begin arriving for winter. Many of these birds are especially vulnerable because they spend much of their time floating on the ocean surface where contact with oil would occur. For example, harlequin ducks spend most of their annual cycle (8-9 months) in marine habitats where they could be exposed to spilled oil, and they are often found in near-shore intertidal and shallow subtidal zones, where any released oil would concentrate. They prefer certain habitats – rocky beaches near offshore reefs and stream mouths, with exposure to surf and winds. Because harlequins need to be able to see to eat, they gobble up anything they can find in the rocky intertidal zone during the brief midwinter days – snails, amphipods, chitons, limpets, and mussels. Ingestion of oil from eating invertebrates, or from preening oiled feathers, can quickly poison these ducks. Even a small amount of oil on the feathers provides an opening for loss of temperature regulation, and most oiled birds become hypothermic.

Further updates over the weekend will be issued only if warranted by new information; have a safe and happy holiday.