Abstract
This chapter discusses the largest marine oil spill in the United States and the largest spill in a sub Arctic ecosystem; however, the damage from the Exxon Valdez oil spill (EVOS) was due as much to when and where it happened as it was to the size of the spill. The oil inundated seabird, sea otter, and harbor seal habitat just prior to their breeding seasons and that of many other vulnerable species. Oil persisted beyond a decade in surprising amounts and in toxic forms. The residual oil was sufficiently bioavailable to induce chronic biological exposures to near shore species and oil had both short-term and long-term effects on a wide variety of species, with prolonged effects on species associated with oiled sediments. The Exxon Valdez spill is the most thoroughly studied oil spill in the history. The conceptual models based on laboratory tests and previous oil spills proved inadequate for describing or predicting the outcome of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The nature confounded the tracking and observed changes over time, this spill was not burdened with the layering of other spills, industrial effluents, or urban development and sewage.
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