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The extent of the ecological damage from the Huntington Beach oil spill will take some time to become clear, with birds and marine mammals being the hardest hit in the near term.
This is the view of experts with experience of other incidents, as they consider a suspected undersea pipeline leak that spilled approximately 126,000 gallons of crude oil a few miles off the southern California coast. .
“The recovery is going to be very patchy,” said Steve Murawski, fisheries biologist and marine ecologist at the University of South Florida.
Dead birds and fish are said to have washed up along miles of black-spotted shoreline as rescuers rushed to retrieve the oiled animals. Seven birds were rescued from the scene and another, a pelican, had to be euthanized. So far, there are no official reports counting animal or invertebrate deaths.
Murawski has spent years studying the effects of the Deepwater Horizon spill – the largest ocean spill in U.S. history, which dumped 134 million gallons into the Gulf of Mexico in 87 days in 2010, contaminating 1 300 miles in five states. Thousands of animals perished in this spill and the effects are still visible and felt today, more than a decade later.
The situation unfolding in Huntington Beach is not on the same scale as the Deepwater Horizon disaster, but there are still important lessons and lessons to be learned, Murawski said.
He said birds and marine mammals would be injured, especially those that congregate along islands off southern California or pass through its coastal wetlands. Small creatures like plankton might take a hit, but their rapid life cycle will likely ensure that they bounce back quickly. “The longer things live and the slower things grow, like abalone and other things that can’t get away,” he said, “it could be more of a problem.”
The effects could be felt long after the sand is cleared of black sludge, especially in affected marshes and wetlands – critical habitats for migratory and shorebirds and several endangered species.
Researchers have found that oil fields don’t always float. Tar balls can find their way through underwater sediment or build up against sandbanks where waves peak near shore, complicating cleanup efforts. Winter storms can continue to cause contamination long after the spill has been contained.
“You will have to do several cycles of cleaning the beach and every time you have a storm you will see these tarballs coming up on the beach,” Murawski said, noting that British Petroleum, the company responsible for Deepwater Horizon, was shooting. ‘huge nets of tar and sand for years after the disaster. “I imagine this is going to be a persistent headache for the people who are supposed to clean the beach.”
Removing oil from sand and surface water is a fairly straightforward process, but it becomes much more complex in delicate marshes and wetlands. These areas, which are home to a wide range of species, including migratory birds and endangered plants and animals, could be permanently affected by the oil spill.
“Once the oil is in the swamp and it drops below the sediment level,” Murawski said, “it’s pretty much there forever.”
Oil has already seeped into three swamps operated by the Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy, a local nonprofit that has restored them to the safe havens they are now. “It’s heartbreaking,” said John Villa, the executive director, lamenting the efforts he and others have made to keep their 127 acres of canned goods pristine.
After hearing reports of the spill on Saturday, he took action, trying to stop the shard from spreading to the shore. He and Orange County public works officials created a sand berm to prevent contaminated water from entering the swamps – but it was too late. “Some of the oil is still in and it’s still seeping in,” he said, adding that they were trying to clean up the water to the best of their ability.
The Huntington Beach Wetlands Conservancy, which includes Talbert, Brookhurst, Magnolia and Newland Marshes, cultivates a rich biodiversity. Between 85 and 90 species of birds inhabit or stop at wetlands along their migratory routes, 10% of which are on the endangered or threatened species list, according to Villa. The organization has also created a space where endangered plant species can thrive.
But over the weekend, the glow could be seen in the shallows. The eelgrass, which once grew in water, was dead and floated to the sides. Villa is not sure of the impact to come as more and more birds are entering the area. Thousands of birds migrate or winter in the area, including federally threatened Brown Pelicans, Pacific Loons, Ospreys and Western Snow Plovers, which breed on beaches, according to Audubon California .
Along with the cleanup, there are concerns about how long the entrance may remain blocked before the fish and plants in the swamp start to run out of oxygen from the salt water coming from the ocean. “Are we opening the entrance, which means we might have more contaminated salt water?” ” he said. “It’s a careful dance.”
Minimal exposures, fatal impacts
According to the researchers, it only takes a tiny amount of exposure for a seabird to succumb. In a 2020 report on the effects on the Refugio Beach oil spill – which occurred in 2015 after a pipeline ruptured and more than 100,000 gallons of crude spilled near Santa Barbara – researchers have discovered that it only takes an amount the size of a nickel to kill some species that feed in water.
“Like a hole in a wetsuit, the oil destroys the ability of the feathers to insulate the bird, allowing cold ocean water to spill out against the bird’s skin,” the report says. . “Birds that come in contact with oil usually die of hypothermia and starvation.” Because many birds preen themselves by using their beaks to clean their feathers, they are also at a higher risk of ingesting toxins. Others may be rendered immobile if their feathers are suffocated by a sticky substance.
Researchers documented nearly 560 bird deaths from the Refugio Beach oil spill, covering 28 different species. The real toll would be even higher.
Some bird populations have been affected not by deaths but by births. Western snow plovers – tiny, round, and endangered dune dwellers – have been exposed on the beach or when foraging in contaminated shallows or around stranded kelp. During the first breeding season after the spill, scientists noted that their egg infertility rate quadrupled and nearly 10% of the eggs were not viable.
Hundreds of invertebrates – from hermit crabs to starfish – also perished in the spill.
The extent of the ecological damage from the 2015 spill has only recently started to be felt, and researchers expect the impact of this new spill to also take years to understand.
“It is really impossible to effectively clean up an oil spill,” said Miyoko Sakashita, director of the oceans program at the advocacy organization Center for Biological Diversity, adding that she was devastated to see the oil reach sensitive habitats. “Birds migrate through there and use it for nesting and resting,” she said. “It’s going to have long-standing impacts on many animals – we’re going to see oil damage beaches and ecosystems for many years to come.”
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