The Bahia Paraiso Oil Spill: Impact on a Southern Seabird Community

1989年1月28日，阿根廷补给船巴伊亚·帕莱索号在南极洲帕尔默站附近搁浅，将18万加仑柴油、喷气燃料和重润滑油泄漏到海洋环境中。此次漏油事件恰逢该地区数量最多的六种海鸟的取食、羽化和扩散阶段，导致3.6万至4.3万只雏鸟和成年海鸟暴露在石油中。这项研究的重点是确定这次漏油事件对帕尔默地区海鸟种群的影响。根据1987年至1989年在帕尔默站进行的先前研究，目前有关于这个海鸟群落中更多成员的丰度、繁殖成功率、饮食和增长率的现有数据，包括1988年(未接触石油)和1989年(接触石油)的标记雏鸟群。这些数据将被用作一项比较研究的基线信息，该研究旨在评估该地区的海鸟死亡率，并确定海鸟种群的恢复潜力。在对整个海鸟群落的石油影响研究中，类似基线数据的可获得性很少。因此，拟议的研究具有独特的价值，不仅在评估石油泄漏对相对原始的极地海鸟群落的影响方面，而且作为一般海鸟影响研究的关键数据的潜在来源。

On 28 January 1989, the Argentine supply ship Bahia Paraiso ran aground near Palmer Station, Antarctica, spilling 180,000 gallons of diesel fuel, jet fuel and heavy lubricants into the marine environment. The spill, which coincided with the feeding, fledgling and dispersal stages of the area's six most abundant seabird species, exposed 36,000-43,000 chicks and adults to the oil. The focus of this study is to determine the impact this spill has had on seabird populations in the Palmer area. From prior research at Palmer Station during 1987-1989, there is current data on the abundance, breeding success, diets and growth rates of the more numerous members of this seabird community, including marked chick cohorts from 1988 (not exposed to oil) and 1989 (exposed to oil). This data will be used as baseline information in a comparative study designed to assess seabird mortality in the area and determine the population's potential for recovery. The availability of similar baseline data is rare among oil impact studies on seabird communities as a whole. The proposed study thus becomes uniquely valuable, not only in terms of assessing the impacts of an oil spill on a comparatively pristine polar seabird community, but as a potential source of critical data for seabird impact studies in general.