The ability to save the lives of blackened seabirds caught in an oil spill will be enhanced later this year, thanks to plans for quickly mobilizing up to four times as many bird-cleaning stations.
Ideas for protecting Puget Sound's killer whales in an oil spill and for rescuing other marine mammals also are moving into high gear. It's all part of more sophisticated planning for spill prevention and response.
Oil-spill prevention has always been a top priority, but state regulations were overhauled following the Point Wells spill in 2004, when oil drifted across Puget Sound and landed on a beach in North Kitsap. The Dalco Passage spill near Tacoma the following year added to the urgency for better planning.
Out of the new rules, approved last year, came an understanding that plans for rescuing wildlife depend too much on a voluntary network of wildlife experts. Further lessons were learned in November, when more than 1,000 oiled birds were recovered in San Francisco Bay and moved to rehabilitation centers in California.
Planning to assist marine mammals during an oil spill is not as far along, but it is occurring on several fronts. Under current plans, oiled wildlife could move into available marine aquariums and other rehabilitation facilities in Washington state plus specialized facilities in California.
Since an oil spill is considered the greatest threat to the survival of the Puget Sound killer whales, a task force has identified methods of "hazing" to be used to drive orcas away from an oil slick. The effort is part of recovery planning for the orcas, listed as endangered by the federal government.
Suggested techniques include using recorded orca calls, banging on pipes that reverberate in the water, setting off explosive "seal bombs" and calling in the Navy to use its mid-frequency sonar. If adopted, the ideas would become part of the Northwest Area Contingency Plan, which spells out how one should respond to a spill.
Fred Felleman, Northwest consultant for Friends of the Earth, said he would like to see more details about when the various methods are effective. The pipes are relatively cheap, he said, and they could be stowed on all whale-watching boats in which operators have been trained.
Air guns, which release bursts of sound, could be especially effective, he said, because the sound levels can be dialed up or down depending on the conditions. The next step should be to determine where air guns and other equipment should be stored for quick deployment, he added.
Carlson said operational details will come out as the current round of planning continues. More research may be needed to see what techniques work the best.
In the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, a large number of killer whales just disappeared, said SeaDoc's Gaydos. Not one carcass was recovered, so researchers are not sure how the oil affected the animals. Researchers fear that a spill in Puget Sound could decimate the local orcas.
Carlson said Fish and Wildlife is working on a plan to respond to oiled sea otters, while plans for other mammals are in the works. It is important to know when to leave animals alone as well as when to take action, he said. Since seals and sea lions have a layer of blubber, they are less at risk than birds to die of hypothermia in an oil spill, he said.
"In our contingency planning, our focus has been mainly on birds," Carlson said, "but we're following the same track for marine mammals. The approach seems to work very well, ... and we may need to develop a 24-hour responsibility for marine mammals."
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