Important components of next readings: Gunton 2012 (Exec Summ only!); Picou 1996; Gill Black Wave Film (bring hankies)

Transcription

1 HOUSEKEEPING Group 2 presentation Thursday Effects of oil spills on coastal people - Jake Mente, Rachel Vale, Margot Cooper, Steven Huang, Satchel Robertson, Jordan Sengara Important components of next readings: Gunton 2012 (Exec Summ only!); Picou 1996; Gill 1997 Black Wave Film (bring hankies) Group 1 see me for mark at end today

2 In the Context of Seismic Surveys - Use of sound by cetaceans Echolocation mid/high freq sounds emitted & echoes detected; seeing for toothed whales Navigation low freq sounds by baleen whales to navigate on migration Communication Simmens et al 2003

3 Marine Mammals challenges in our understanding of noise impacts Usually limited to detecting only the crudest, most obvious, short-term behavioural changes (like fatal beachings with bleeding eardrums) [as opposed to population trend responses] Simmens et al 2003

4 Sources of marine noise: 1. Natural noise producers (physical; e.g. wind/waves) & biological (fish, mammals) 2. Vessel traffic: large vessels low frequency range, which baleen whales use. More noise from larger/older vessels (tankers heard up to > 1000 km away) smaller vessels higher frequency, which toothed whales use 3. O & G Seismic Surveys Seismic air gun arrays 250 db range 150 db = rock music peak 140 db = firearms, air raid siren, jet engine 130 db = jackhammer Simmens et al 2003

5 Observations of noise effects in cetaceans Cumulative effects of multiple: noise stressors effects of those stressors Table Simmens et al 2003

6 Lessons from Exxon Valdez March 24, million litres spilled (125 Olympic-sized pools). ~ 2000 km of coastline +++Play a little Black Wave Peterson et al. 2003

7 Acute & Chronic Effects of Oil Spills; Lessons from Exxon Valdez VALDEZ DATA Acute effects: deaths of 1000 to 2800 sea otters; 250,000 sea-birds; 300 harbour seals (inhalation) mass mortality of macroalgae & benthic invertebrates (chemical toxicity, smothering, and physical displacement by pressurized wash) NOAA Peterson et al. 2003

8 Acute & Chronic Effects of Oil Spills; Lessons from Exxon Valdez VALDEZ DATA Long-term exposure: 2001 survey of intertidal PWS: 100,000 kg of original 800,000 kg in partially-degraded oil among subsurface sediment, intertidal sediments, etc. enduring route into food chains 15 years later David Mcnew / Getty Images file Peterson et al. 2003

9 Acute & Chronic Effects of Oil Spills; Lessons from Exxon Valdez VALDEZ DATA Long-term population-level impacts 1. Sea otters Knight Island In 2000, still 50% of pre-spill #s with no recovery high juvenile mortality & detection of 2. Birds: Harlequin Ducks, Pigeon Guillemots, & Barrow s Goldeneye Oil vs. un-oiled site comparisons: mortality, population declines 3. Salmon (pinks) in (lower) stream environments Stunted juvenile growth with oil exposure (lab & field), which lead to poor early ocean survival Reduced reproduction among returning adults Peterson et al. 2003

10 VALDEZ DATA Long-term population-level impacts 4. Killer Whales ( transient, marine-mammal eating AT1 population) Population was stable at ~ 22 individuals prior to spill

11 What is it about oil spills that causes these effects? 1. General effects of oil: disrupts insulation/bouyancy/flight in birds (and mammals); smothers intertidal organisms 2. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) What: known toxin and carcinogen, some forms do not dissolve in water (i.e. persist) Routes: inhalation of vapours, digestion through preening/grooming, digestion via contaminated food Processes of damage: 1- & 2-ring short forms cause 3-, 4-, and 5-ring compounds. Chronic effects because

12 Acute & Chronic Effects of Oil Spills; Lessons from Exxon Valdez Table 1. Changing paradigms in oil ecotoxicology, moving from acute toxicity based on single species toward an ecosystem-based synthesis of short-term direct plus longer-term chronic, delayed, and indirect impacts. Peterson et al. 2003

13 Acute & Chronic Effects of Oil Spills; Lessons from Exxon Valdez Peterson et al. 2003

14 Enbridge Northern Gateway Project (marine details) Proposed northern and southern approaches for tankers ~2-3 VLCCs per week, each with ~315,000,000 L of oil Smaller tankers inbound with condensate Very high storm frequency & intensity (some of largest wave heights ever recorded) Navigational hazards reefs and narrow Douglas Channel

15 Acute & Chronic Effects of Oil Spills; Lessons from Exxon Valdez Living Oceans Society Oil Spill Model Resources and scenarios based on data (e.g. salmon streams) and known events (e.g Queen of the North sinking), respectively Data applied to the General NOAA Oil Modeling Environment (GNOME), [NOAA = U.S. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration] GNOME processed the data (currents, winds, oil amount) into plots that show the trajectory and subsequent movements of oil spills (

16 Kinder Morgan pipeline terminus in Burrard Inlet, Vancouver. 300,000 barrels/day (60% of proposed ENGP volume) of Oil Sands crude to terminus 65 tankers/year via Straight of Juan de Fuca and southern Gulf Islands for California and Asia Jan 10, 2013: "Trans Mountain Pipeline ULC (Trans Mountain), operated by Kinder Morgan Canada Inc. today announced an update to the scope of its proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline. As a result of new longterm contracts, the total volume of committed oil will result in an increase in the proposed expansion capacity from 750,000 bpd to 890,000 bpd."

17 Accident free...