**Preassessment Data Report #9:**

**Bird Species Found Oiled, December 2004 -- January 2005, at Unalaska
Island Following the M/V *Selendang Ayu* Oil Spill**

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Live visibly-oiled common murre, Skan Bay, December 26, 2004. USFWS
photo by A.L. Sowls

G.V. Byrd

Laurie Daniel

US Fish and Wildlife Service

Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge

95 Sterling Hwy

Homer, AK 99603

**INTRODUCTION**

On 8 December 2004, the M/V *Selendang Ayu* ran aground and broke in
half in rough seas off Unalaska Island, Alaska (53°38\'N, 167° 07\'W).
An estimated 354,218 gallons of oil (339,538 gallons of bunker oil \[IFO
380\] and 14,680 gallons of marine diesel and miscellaneous oils) were
discharged. It is believed that much of this oil went ashore in the
stretch of shoreline between Volcano Bay and Pumicestone Bay (Fig. 1),
but oil was also found ashore outside this contiguous spill area. Some
oil was also documented to be located on subtidal sediments and in the
open water. Observations of live, visibly-oiled wildlife in the spill
area were recorded during live animal rescue attempts by International
Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC). Similar observations were made
during efforts to collect and remove oiled wildlife carcasses from
beaches as part of the response to the oil spill. Additionally,
pre-assessment of injury was conducted by the Fish and Wildlife Service
(FWS) which included collection of carcasses on beaches and observations
of live, visibly-oiled birds.

This report summarizes data from observations of these live,
visibly-oiled birds and oiled carcasses found on beaches as a basis for
determining the diversity of birds that were injured in the period
following the *Selendang Ayu* oil spill (based on observations December
13, 2004 -- January 31, 2005).

Figure 1. Location of the *Selendang Ayu* shipwreck on the coast of
Unalaska Island. The core oil spill area extends between Volcano Bay,
just south of Cape Kovrizhka, to Pumicestone Bay, just south of Spray
Cape.

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height="4.304861111111111in"}

**METHODS**

Due to strong winds and rough seas during and following the oil spill,
few observations of birds could be made in the vicinity of the wreck
until nearly one week after the event, although observers making
incidental observations of wildlife during overflights of the area in a
Grumman goose accounted for some records of birds in the area December
9-12. IBRRC crews were among the first on the scene in a boat, and they
attempted to capture and rehabilitate live, visibly-oiled birds in the
spill area from December13 -19 and again December 24 - January 6. The
capture effort was demobilized on January 7 because no visibly-oiled
birds were caught after December 25 (Callahan et al. 2006). Observations
of live, visibly-oiled birds were made incidental to the IBRRC capture
efforts by Art Sowls, Steve Ebbert, and Angie Doroff, all FWS employees
who accompanied IBRRC personnel during most of the period until December
24. Additionally, between mid-December 2004 and mid-February 2005,
observations of live, visibly-oiled birds were made by FWS and other
personnel involved in response to the spill and in pre-assessment of
bird injury. The vast majority of live birds encountered could not be
observed well enough to determine whether or not they were oiled. Only
those live birds definitely oiled were used to make this species list of
visibly-oiled birds.

Besides the observations of live, visibly-oiled birds, carcasses of
oiled birds were collected as early as mid-December, although most were
collected between December 24, 2004 and February 1, 2005. Carcasses were
labeled and stored for later identification because many of the remains
were oiled beyond recognition or had been scavenged before recovery and
often only wings or sterna were left. Retrieved carcasses were later
identified either at the National Wildlife Forensics Lab in Ashland,
Oregon or at the University of Alaska Museum of the North in Fairbanks,
Alaska.

**RESULTS AND DISCUSSION**

We documented injury to at least 41 species of birds (Tables 1 and 2,
Appendix A), including most of the species known to be in the spill area
based on aerial surveys (Stehn et al. 2005) and other observations made
during preassessment of natural resource damage after the spill. The
aerial surveys documented 8 species of birds in the area for which we
had no direct evidence of oiling. At least some of these, however,
particularly the 5 species of ducks, were likely exposed to the oil but
not detected. Seven of the 8 species include surf scoter, common
goldeneye, bufflehead, gadwall, merganser, herring gull and merlin. The
eighth, Steller's eider, was not recorded as oiled in the spill zone. At
least one oiled Steller's eider was seen in Unalaska Bay (S. Golodoff,
pers. comm.) on December 18, however the source of the oil was not
determined. Further, our methods likely underestimated the relative
abundance of live oiled birds that were foraging or scavenging on oiled
beaches, and some of these birds probably died later, outside the
surveyed areas. Particularly numerous in the totals of oiled birds were
alcids, especially auklets. Other commonly found birds include
cormorants, waterfowl, gulls, tubenoses, grebes and loons.

Alcids (*Alcidae*), particularly crested auklets *(Aethia*), were a
major component of both the live, visibly-oiled and carcass totals.
Unalaska Island is at the western edge of a major wintering area for
crested auklets (*Aethia cristatella*) (Gibson and Byrd 2007, Appendix
B), and flocks were seen in the immediate and surrounding area of the
wreck during and immediately after the spill event (reviewed in Appendix
B). Murres *(Uria*) also were relatively well-represented in the raw
totals, and nearly every species of alcid known to winter in the region
was recorded as oiled. Cormorants (*Phalacrocorax*), particularly
pelagic cormorants (*P. pelagicus*), were relatively common in the raw
counts of live, visibly-oiled birds (more than 40 observations of
visibly-oiled pelagic cormorants in Scan Bay December 14-16, Table 2)
and carcasses. All three species of cormorant (red-faced (*P. urile*),
pelagic, and double-crested (*P. auritus*)) that winter in the vicinity
of Unalaska Island were affectedWaterfowl also were particularly
vulnerable to the oil, at least nine species were definitely recorded.
Harlequin ducks (*Histrionicus histrionicus*) were the most frequently
recorded species in the list of oiled ducks (based on carcasses, Table
1, and visibly-oiled birds, Table 2), followed by long-tailed ducks
(*Clangula hyemalis*) and black scoters (*Melanitta nigra*) (Table 1).
At least three of the four species of gulls wintering in the region were
known to have been oiled. Although mew gulls (*Larus canus*) were not
documented to be oiled directly, observations of live, visibly-oiled
unidentified small gulls probably included this species. Glaucous-winged
gulls (*Larus glaucescens*) were seen frequently on oiled beaches and
the number of birds actually oiled was likely far greater than indicated
by the raw data since this species was a main scavenger of carcasses.
Offshore tubenoses, or procellarids, (e.g., fulmars (*Fulmarus
glacialis*), albatrosses (*Phoebastria* spp.), shearwaters (*Puffinus*
spp.), and storm-petrels (*Oceanodroma* spp.) were affected by the oil
to some degree, as were more inshore grebes (*Podiceps* spp.) and loons
(*Gavia* spp.).

Relative abundance of oiled birds was likely underestimated for species
that were contaminated while foraging on oiled beaches (e.g., emperor
geese (*Chen canagica*), rock sandpipers (*Calidris ptilocnemis*), black
oystercatchers (*Haematopus bachmani*), song sparrows *(Melospiza
melodia*), winter wrens (*Trogodytes troglodytes*)) or while scavenging
on oiled carcasses (e.g., gulls, bald eagles (*Haliaeetus
leucocephalus*), common ravens (*Corvus corax*), red foxes (*Vulpes
vulpes*)) because some of these scavengers, injured by secondary
exposure, may have died later outside surveyed areas.

**REFERENCES**

Callahan, B., J. Holcomb, and C. Clumpner. 2005. Selendang Ayu Wildlife
Collection and Rehabilitation Summary Report. International Bird Rescue
Research Center, Anchorage, AK.

Doroff, A.M. and A.L. Sowls, 2005. Marine Mammal and Bird Response
during the Selendang Ayu Oil

Spill Unalaska Island, Aleutian Archipelago 8-18 December, 2004.
Unpublished report, USFWS

Anchorage, Alaska.

Gibson, D.D. and G.V. Byrd. 2007. Birds of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska.
Series in Ornithology Number 1. Nuttall Ornithological Club and American
Ornithologists' Union.

Jones, I. L. 1993. Crested Auklet (*Aethia cristatella*). *In* The Birds
of North America, No. 70 (A. Poole

and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences;
Washington, D.C.: The

American Ornithologists' Union.

Stehn, R.A., R.M. Platte, D.K. Marks, J.G. King, and D.J. Groves. 2005.
Aerial surveys of birds near the grounded Selendang Ayu on the northwest
coast of Unalaska Island, Alaska, January 2005. Unpublished FWS Report,
Migratory Bird Management, Anchorage

Troy, D.M. and M. S. W. Bradstreet 1991. Marine bird abundance and
habitat use. *In* Marine birds and

mammals of the Unimak Pass area: abundance, habitat use and
vulnerability (J. C. Truitt and K.

Kertell, Eds.). OCS Study MMS 91--0038, Anchorage, AK.

Williams, J., D. Dragoo, and A. Kettle. 2006. Activity log of damage
pre-assessment activities in

> response to the wreck of the M/V Selendang Ayu, 22 December 2004 --1
> February 2005**.** AMNWR Report 06/04.

**Table 1.** Birds observed as live, visibly-oiled or as carcasses at
Unalaska Island in the vicinity of the *Selendang Ayu* oil spill.

^**a**^ Live Oiled **=** see Table 2

**^b^** Unidentifed auklets= Genus *Aethia*

**^c^** Unidentified Alcids = Family alcidae

**Table 2.** Live, visibly-oiled birds observed December 13, 2004 --
January 31, 2005 following the *Selendang Ayu* oil spill at Unalaska
Island.

  ----------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ --------------
  ***Bird           ***12/13***   ***12/14***   ***12/15***   ***12/16***   ***12/17***   ***12/18***   ***12/19***   ***12/24***   ***12/25***   ***12/27***   ***12/28***   ***12/29***   ***12/30***   ***12/31***   ***1/1***   ***1/7***   ***1/9***   ***1/10***   ***1/13***   ***1/16***   ***1/21***   ***Totals***
  Species***                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

  Mallard                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       **1\***

  Unidentified                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  **1\***
  Merganser                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

  Harlequin Duck    1^a^ 2^c^     11^c^         21^c^         8^c^                                                                                                                          1^b^                                                            4^e^                                                **48**

  Black Scoter                    1^c^                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          **1**

  Long-tailed Duck  1^a^ 3^c^                                                                           1^a^                                                                                                                                                                                                    **5**

  Common Loon                                   1^c^                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            **1**

  Yellow-billed                                                                                                                                                                                                         1^d^                                                                                    **1**
  Loon                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

  Horned Grebe                    1^a^          1^c^                        1^b^          1^b^                                                                                                                                                                                                                  **4**

  Red-necked Grebe  1^c^                        2^c^                                                                  1^b^                                                    1^d^                                      1^d^                                             2^e^                                   **8**

  Double-crested    1^c^                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        **1**
  Cormorant                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

  Pelagic Cormorant               1^a^ 6^c^     22^c^         15^c^                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             **44**

  Bald Eagle                                    3^c^                                                                                              1^e^                                                    2^b^                                                                                                  **6**

  Black                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         **1\***
  Oystercatcher                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

  Rock Sandpiper                                                            2^b^                                                                                                                                                                                                                                **2**

  Glaucous-winged                 4^c^                        1^c^                        1^a^          1^a^          2^b^                                      13^d^                                                                                                    3^d^                      4^d^         **29**
  Gull                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

  Glaucous Gull                                 1^c^                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            **1**

  Common Murre      1^a^                        2^a^          1^a^          1^b^          1^a^                        1^b^          1^a^                                                                                                        1^d^                                               1^e^         **10**

  Pigeon Guillemot  1^c^          2^c^          1^c^          2^c^                        1^b^                                                                  1^d^                                                                                                                                            **8**

  Crested Auklet                                              6^a^3^c^      2^b^          2^a^          1^a^                        1^a^                        5^d^                                                                                                                                            **20**

  Unidentified                                                3^c^                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              **3**
  Auklet                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

  American Dipper                                                                                                                                                                                                       1^d^                                                                                    **1**

  Song Sparrow                                                                                                                                                                                                                      2^d^                                              1^e^                      **3**
  ----------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ------------- ----------- ----------- ----------- ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ --------------

\* reported on pre-scat survey, no date given.

^a^ captured by IBRRC (see Callahan et al.);

^b^ Steve Ebbert on M/V Excito (field notes);

^c^ Art Sowls on M/V Cape Flattery (field notes);

^d^ Tiglax beach surveys (see Williams et al);

^e^ other pre-scat surveys (see database).

**Appendix A.** List of avian carcasses from the Selendang Ayu oil spill
identified by the National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory and
the University of Alaska Museum.

***Selendang Ayu* Avian Carcass Identification**

**Species List**

  --------------------------------------- --------------------- -------------
  **LOWEST TAXONOMIC IDENTIFICATION**                           **NUMBER OF
                                                                CARCASSES**

  **[Scientific name]{.underline}**       **[Common             
                                          name]{.underline}**   

  Aethia sp. (identification to genera                          753
  auklet)                                                       

  Aethia cristatella                      Crested Auklet        449

  Aves (identification classified to                            101
  bird)                                                         

  Phalacrocorax sp. (identification to                          87
  genera cormorant)                                             

  Uria sp. (identification to genera                            86
  murre)                                                        

  Histrionicus histrionicus               Harlequin Duck        40

  Larus sp. (identification to genera                           35
  gull)                                                         

  Anatidae (identification to family                            23
  duck)                                                         

  Alcidae (identification to family                             18
  seabird)                                                      

  Fulmarus glacialis                      Northern Fulmar       17

  Phalacrocorax pelagicus                 Pelagic Cormorant     15

  Podiceps auritus                        Horned Grebe          12

  Cepphus columba                         Pigeon Guillemot      12

  Clangula hyemalis                       Long-tailed Duck      11

  Fratercula sp. (identification to                             11
  genera puffin)                                                

  Uria aalge                              Common Murre          11

  Uria lomvia                             Thick-billed Murre    10

  Melanitta nigra                         Black Scoter          9

  Aethia pygmaea                          Whiskered Auklet      8

  Haliaeetus luecocephalus                Bald Eagle            8

  Calidris ptilocnemis                    Rock Sandpiper        7

  Fratercula cirrhata                     Tufted Puffin         6

  Phalacrocorax urile                     Red-faced Cormorant   5

  Phoebastria sp. (identification to                            5
  genera albatross)                                             

  Phoebastria immutabilis                 Laysan Albatross      5

  Aethia pusilla                          Least Auklet          4

  Fratercula corniculata                  Horned Puffin         4

  Rissa sp. (identification to genera                           4
  kittiwake)                                                    

  Larus glaucescens                       Glaucous-winged Gull  3

  Melanitta fusca                         White-winged Scoter   3

  Podiceps sp. (identification to genera                        3
  grebe)                                                        

  Puffinus tenuirostris                   Short-tailed          3
                                          Shearwater            

  **LOWEST TAXONOMIC IDENTIFICATION**                           **NUMBER OF
                                                                CARCASSES**

  Somateria sp. (identification to genera                       3
  eider -- not Steller's)                                       

  Brachyramphus sp. (identification to                          3
  genera murrelet)                                              

  Brachyramphus marmoratus                Marbled Murrelet      2

  Chen canagica                           Emperor Goose         2

  Laridae (identification to family gull)                       2

  Oceanodroma furcata                     Fork-tailed Storm     2
                                          Petrel                

  Podiceps grisegena                      Red-necked Grebe      2

  Somateria spectabilis                   King Eider            2

  Anas crecca                             Green-winged Teal     1

  Falco peregrinus                        Peregrine Falcon      1

  Gavia sp. (identification to genera                           1
  loon)                                                         

  Leucosticte tephrocotis                 Grey-crowned Rosy     1
                                          Finch                 

  Melanitta sp. (identification to genera                       1
  scoter)                                                       

  Puffinis sp. (identification to genera                        1
  shearwater)                                                   

  Rissa tridactyla                        Black-legged          1
                                          Kittiwake             

  Somateria mollissima                    Common Eider          1

  Corvus corax                            Common Raven          1

  **TOTAL NUMBER OF CARCASSES                                   **1,795**
  IDENTIFIED**                                                  
  --------------------------------------- --------------------- -------------

**Appendix B.** Distribution of Crested Auklets in winter in the eastern
Aleutian Islands and 0bservations in the vicinity of the Selendang Ayu
oil spill

Crested Auklets (*Aethia cristatella*) are thought to be particularly
susceptible to oil spills because of "large local concentrations...at
favored wintering areas" (Jones 1993, p. 11). Indeed, during severe
storms, such as the one occurring when the *Selendang Ayu* oil spill
occurred at Unalaska Island, crested auklets sometimes seek shelter in
bays. For instance, in February 1971 tens of thousands of crested
auklets were seen in protected waters near the Semidi Islands (G. V.
Byrd, Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, unpubl. data).

The only bird observations in the vicinity of the *Selendang Ayu* wreck
(i.e., Makushin and Skan Bays) at Unlaska Island on December 8, 2004
were overflights in a Grumman Goose with the primary objective of
observing the distribution of oil and the condition of the wrecked ship.
Typically the aircraft traveled at about 100 knots (115 mph) and at
elevations of 100-150 ft. Wildlife observers had relatively poor
visibility through the small windows of the aircraft but they were able
to record some information. For instance, the day after the spill
(December 9, 2004), Arthur L. Sowls (Alaska Maritime National Wildlife
Refuge, field notes) noted that flocks of unidentified small dark alcids
\[probably crested auklets\], ranging from about 10 to over 250 per
flock, were seen below the plane, which was flying over the wreck to
assess extent of oil. Sowls observed in Makushin Bay large flocks
(100\'s+) of small dark alcids too far away to be counted or identified
to species but almost certainly crested or whiskered auklets or both. He
wrote that because of poor visibility, additional flocks of these small
dark colored alcids were likely missed entirely. Sowls classified
relative abundance of small alcids during the flight in different areas
as follows: Cape Starichkof (medium numbers, low hundreds), Makushin Bay
(high numbers, high hundreds as indicated above), and Pumicestone Bay
(medium numbers, low hundreds).

On December 11, 2004, Steve Ebbert (Alaska Maritime National Wildlife
Refuge, briefing report) stated, "the aircraft \[the goose\] visited
Naginak (sp?) Cove \[Anderson Bay\]. In the middle of the bay, there
were 1000 auklets...".

On December 12, 2004, Steve Ebbert (Alaska Maritime National Wildlife
Refuge, field notes) noted crested auklets again in Anderson Bay: "at
least 50 crested auklets sat just north of the largest island in this
bay. There were probably more. \...I was surprised to see crested
auklets further inside (south) of the western arm".

Auklets were still present in the area on December 25, 2004 when Jeff
Williams (Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, report to IC Dutch
Harbor) saw a "couple thousand" crested auklets and approximately 250
whiskered auklets from the M/V *Tiglax* during a trip between Volcano
Bay to Cape Starichkof. Williams also noted 14 crested auklets deep in
Anderson Bay.

Unalaska Island is near the western edge of a major wintering area for
crested auklets. Gibson and Byrd (2007) summarize this as follows:

> "Locally abundant in winter in [eastern]{.smallcaps} Aleutians at edge
> of continental shelf off Unimak ("hundreds of thousands," 13 February
> 1992, off ne shore, C. P. Dau & C. F. Zeillemaker; large flocks
> totaling c. 150,000 birds, 23 February 1984, in an area 3-6 km off ne
> shore, CPD; and 10 large flocks totaling 100,000+ birds, 9 March 1994,
> off n shore \[Slime Bank\], CPD & R. P. Schulmeister). During boat
> surveys in winter 1987, Crested Auklet was the most numerous bird in
> Unimak Pass area, averaging 318/km^2^ and with maximum density of
> 13,000/km² off nw coast of Unimak (Troy & Bradstreet 1991)"

The primary diet of crested auklets is zooplankton, particularly
euphausiids (*Thysanoessa*), which they capture within the top 30 m of
the water column (Jones 1993), and it is likely that the large wintering
flocks move around, at least within the region of Unimak Pass, following
the peregrinations of the clusters of prey. Unalaska Island is probably
near the western edge of this region.