Ecological or toxic influences on several food species could result in substantial declines in bird populations. In the Arctic, where temperatures are low, and bacterial and other decompositional activities are consequently slow, spilled oil would persist for many years, with concomitant deleterious effects on the marine organisms of the area (Burns and Morrow 1973). Reduced recruitment of young would no longer balance inevitable or density-independent population mortality (Ashmole 1971). Although indications are that arctic species are the most vulnerable to this type of impact, the lack of knowledge of the feeding niches of most seabirds discourages further evaluation of this potential problem. It is obvious, however, that ecology of arctic birds is least understood, and these species are the most vulnerable to the detrimental effects of man-caused environmental degradation.
Conclusions
Predictability of the impact of resource development on marine birds in northern waters is limited by our relative ignorance of these birds and their ecology. Just as there exists a latitudinal gradient in the ecological stability of the ecosystems involved, available knowledge of these ecosystems is in inverse relationship to the latitude at which they occur. Arctic bird associations and their fragile environments are least understood but are doubtless the most vulnerable to the detrimental effects of man-caused environmental degradation. Existing technology and support system capabilities of the oil industry are poorly defined for Arctic areas, further compounding this problem (Arctic Institute of North America 1974).
Although activities associated with the extraction of hard minerals and the timber industry will ultimately affect northern seabirds, petrochemical developments pose the most immediate threat to this resource. Exploration and development of many coastal and offshore sedimentary basins with a potential for oil or gas production are proceeding rapidly. Within a few years, oil storage and loading facilities at Valdez, Alaska, and supertankers plying northern waters will probably result in widespread chronic and localized catastrophic contamination of northern marine environments. Experience in other areas has demonstrated that oil spills are a considerable potential threat to these bird populations, directly through widespread mortality and indirectly through effects on the environment. This threat is of such magnitude that entire populations or species could be lost to a single spill if it occurred at the wrong place at the wrong time of year. Because many of these species require 3 to 4 years for maturation and may rear only one or two young per year, recovery time for their populations is great (Ashmole 1971). For these and other reasons, the Council on Environmental Quality (1974) concluded that the Gulf of Alaska appeared more vulnerable to major environmental damage from outer continental shelf oil and gas development than sites off the Atlantic coast.
As Bartonek et al. (1971) pointed out, it would be a national tragedy if the great nongame bird populations along Alaska's coast were decimated during the "Environmental Decade" without even being properly described. Regardless of information amassed in the future and precautionary measures taken during exploitation of arctic petroleum reserves, the potential for disastrous and perhaps irrecoverable losses to northern marine bird species and populations is great. Losses of major magnitude could appreciably alter the productivity of northern marine ecosystems, to the detriment of other renewable resources.
Knowledge of northern marine birds, their environments, and their ecology must be greatly expanded if the consequences of petrochemical exploitation are to be predicted and safeguards established against potential problems. To the extent possible, oil exploration and development activities should be limited to temperate, more stable, marine ecosystems, at least until more northerly areas are better understood. Similarly, these activities must be conducted in such places and at such times that impact on the environment will be minimized. State and federal governments and the petroleum industry are ultimately answerable for this responsibility.
The Nation must be aware of the potential costs of energy independence set forth as a goal of proposed oil and gas leasing of Alaska's outer continental shelf. We must ask ourselves if we are willing to risk extermination of species to reach this goal, or if we can afford the luxury of reducing the biological productivity of these waters.
References
Arctic Institute of North America. 1974. The Alaskan arctic coast—a background study of available knowledge. 551 pp.
Ashmole, N. P. 1971. Seabird ecology and the marine environment. Pages 223-286 in D. S. Farner and J. R. King, eds. Avian biology. Vol. I. Academic Press, New York.