Pollution investigators from the U.S. Coast Guard Marine safety Office Anchorage and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been on the scene since Tuesday. As of 4:00 p.m. today they have been conducting beach surveys and taking samples to determine a possible source. Samples will be sent to the Coast Guard Central Oil Identification Laboratory for analysis.
A Coast Guard C-130 conducted and overflight of the area on February 20 and found no signs of oil within a 10-mile radius of Saint Paul Island. A Coast Guard C-1300 will conduct an additional overflight tomorrow expanding the search area. Use of helicopters has not been possible due to high winds.
About 200-300 seabirds, including king eiders, oldsquaws, pigeon and black guillemots, thick-billed murres, and crested auklets were seen oiled but alive on the beaches of St. Paul Island, Pribilof Islands. The seabirds have come ashore on beaches and rocky shorelines. Large numbers of oiled eiders are roosting on frozen lakes and on the ice of the Salt Lagoon.
The Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service personnel are on the scene conducting a preliminary wildlife assessment. Three Fish and Wildlife biologists are en route to initiate a comprehensive beach survey and seabird retrieval to minimize the secondary contamination of Arctic foxes and gulls. The Coast Guard will be providing equipment and site safety training to volunteers involved in the bird carcass retrieval. Because the Pribilofs are remote, it will be difficult to organize a rehabilitation response. The Fish and Wildlife Service Oil Spill Response Program, the International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC), and the Coast Guard are coordinating to determine the level of wildlife response necessary.
FWS
