Abstract

In 1957, the S.S. Jacob Luckenbach sank 17 miles outside San Francisco Bay. It has now been tied by chemical fingerprinting to “mystery spills” along the coast for more than a decade, where episodic and varying numbers of oiled birds have been found on beaches from Monterey to Bodega Bay. A recent event, which ran from November 2001 until July 2002, affected over 2100 seabirds, the majority of which were common murres (Uria aalge). The purpose of this study is to evaluate medical records from more than 900 live-stranded common murres affected by this spill to evaluate the utility of easily measured parameters in predicting survival or death during rehabilitation, and thus increase the ability of rehabilitation staff to make humane treatment decisions for each affected animal during future spills. Parameters to be examined include packed cell volume, total plasma protein, blood glucose, body temperature, body condition, degree of oiling, and hydration status. In addition, since common murres frequently become anemic during treatment, birds will be followed over time to determine a lower limit of PCV below which survival was unlikely. All parameters will be considered singly and in combination for the development of a predictive statistical model using SPSS software.