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Volume 51, No. 1

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Demographics and gross pathology of scoters and scaups killed by the Cosco Busan oil spill in California


Authors

JESSIE BECK1*, RYAN D. CARLE1, HANNAHROSE NEVINS1,2,3, SUSAN E.W. DE LA CRUZ4 & ERICA DONNELLY-GREENAN1
1Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge, P.O. Box 2570, Santa Cruz, California 95063, USA *(jessie@oikonos.org)
2California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Office of Spill Prevention and Response, Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center, 1451 Shaffer Rd, Santa Cruz, California 95060, USA
3Wildlife Health Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, One Shields Ave., Davis, California 95616, USA
4U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, San Francisco Bay Estuary Field Station, PO Box 158, Moffett Field, California 94035-0158, USA

Citation

BECK, J. CARLE, R.D., NEVINS, H., DE LA CRUZ, S.E.W. & DONNELLY-GREENAN, E. 2023. Demographics and gross pathology of scoters and scaups killed by the Cosco Busan oil spill in California. Marine Ornithology 51: 69 - 78

Received 11 July 2022; accepted 22 December 2022

Date Published: 2023/04/15
Date Online: 2023/04/10
Key words: Melanitta, Aythya, sea duck, acanthocephalan, mycotic disease, parasite, sex ratio

Abstract

Unusual wildlife mortality events provide a unique opportunity to collect information on demographics, disease, and body condition in affected wildlife, which may be useful for informing oil spill damage assessments and future spill responses. In November 2007, the Cosco Busan Oil Spill occurred in San Francisco Bay, California, a globally important wintering area for waterfowl. The spill resulted in the mortality of scoters Melanitta spp. and scaups Aythya spp., species that have declined significantly over recent decades. We examined the demography (sex and age ratios) and prevalence of grossly apparent disease (acanthocephalan parasite infection and mycotic disease) in 288 Surf Scoters M. perspicillata, White-winged Scoters M. deglandi, Greater Scaup A. marila, and Lesser Scaup A. affinis killed in the oil spill. The proportions of females and juveniles in examined Surf Scoters was unexpectedly high (0.98:1, females:males, 0.73:1 juveniles:adults) for this species with normally strong male- and adult-biased populations. This disproportionate mortality of female Surf Scoters could result in a greater population impact on this female-limited species, suggesting a mechanism for steep declines in San Francisco Bay scoter numbers in the years after the Cosco Busan oil spill. Significantly greater rates of acanthocephalan infection in juvenile vs. adult Surf Scoters indicated a possible interaction between acanthocephalan parasitism and juvenile-biased mortality in our sample. Birds that died during rehabilitation had significantly greater rates of mycotic disease (10% infected) than birds found dead in the field (3%), indicating that infections began or worsened during rehabilitation. Greater Scaup had proportionally greater rates of infection with mycotic disease (26% of individuals) than other species, indicating that they may be particularly susceptible to the disease. We encourage the documentation of demographics and disease as a regular part of future responses to oil spills, or other mortality events, to gain insight into population impacts and improve rehabilitation efforts of affected populations.

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