Seabirds in Conditions of Local Chronic Oil Pollution, Davis Sea, Antarctica

Sergey Golubev

doi:10.3390/birds2030020

Abstract

Oil spills are rare in Antarctica. They threaten flying birds and penguins. This is the first report on the interactions of seabirds with oil in the area of the Mirny Station (East Antarctica). The purpose of the study is to determine the total number of seabird species interacting with oil in and around the Mirny Station, to assess the extent of pollution and to identify the most important sites of interactions. Oil pollution is found on the ground, on the continental ice and, on the seawater surface, both directly in the Mirny and beyond. Five species of seabirds were in contact with oil. Oil pollution threats have been identified for breeding and molting Adélie Penguins (Pygoscelis adeliae) and vagrant Macaroni Penguins (Eudyptes chrysolophus). Less affected by oil pollution during the breeding season were tube-nosed bird species and skuas. The most important places of interaction of seabirds with oil are at Cape Mabus, on the islands of Zykov, Tokarev, and Stroiteley. Evidence of long-term oil pollution of the environment is indicative of the chronic nature of the impacts on the coastal ecosystem.

Highlights

Major oil spills are rare in the Antarctic [1]
Oil pollution was found on Tokarev and Zykov islands and the largest of the Stroiteley islands, as well as on the Komsomolsky, Radio, and Morennyy nunataks (Figure 1) [9,10,11,22]
The least affected by oil pollution were Wilson’s Storm Petrels, South Polar and Brown skuas

Summary

Introduction

Major oil spills are rare in the Antarctic [1]. according to estimates by I.Snape et al [2], 1 to 10 million m3 of soil in Antarctica is considered to be contaminated with oil. Major oil spills are rare in the Antarctic [1]. Direct fuel leakage mainly occurs at Antarctic stations and along road networks [3,4]. In the second half of the 20th century, significant diesel fuel spills (tens of thousands of liters) occurred both in West Antarctica (for example the Bahía Paraíso vessel, which ran aground and subsequently sank near the Palmer Station) [5] and in East Antarctica (for example at the Davis and the Casey stations) [2,6,7]. Significant oil pollution is present at the Mirny Station [8,9,10,11]. Small-scale local oil pollution was recorded at the Edgeworth

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Discussion

Conclusion