Unexpectedly high mortality in Pacific herring embryos exposed to the 2007 Cosco Busan oil spill in San Francisco Bay.
In November 2007, the container ship Cosco Busan released 54,000 gallons of bunker fuel oil into San Francisco Bay. The accident oiled shoreline near spawning habitats for the largest population of Pacific herring on the west coast of the continental United States. We assessed the health and viability of herring embryos from oiled and unoiled locations that were either deposited by natural spawning or incubated in subtidal cages. Three months after the spill, caged embryos at oiled sites showed sublethal cardiac toxicity, as expected from exposure to oil-derived polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs). By contrast, embryos from the adjacent and shallower intertidal zone showed unexpectedly high rates of tissue necrosis and lethality unrelated to cardiotoxicity. No toxicity was observed in embryos from unoiled sites. Patterns of PACs at oiled sites were consistent with oil exposure against a background of urban sources, although tissue concentrations were lower than expected to cause lethality. Embryos sampled 2 y later from oiled sites showed modest sublethal cardiotoxicity but no elevated necrosis or mortality. Bunker oil contains the chemically uncharacterized remains of crude oil refinement, and one or more of these unidentified chemicals likely interacted with natural sunlight in the intertidal zone to kill herring embryos. This reveals an important discrepancy between the resolving power of current forensic analytical chemistry and biological responses of keystone ecological species in oiled habitats. Nevertheless, we successfully delineated the biological impacts of an oil spill in an urbanized coastal estuary with an overlapping backdrop of atmospheric, vessel, and land-based sources of PAC pollution.
Environmental Conservation Division, Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, WA 98112, USA. john.incardona@noaa.gov
John P
JP
Incardona
Carol A
CA
Vines
Bernadita F
BF
Anulacion
David H
DH
Baldwin
Heather L
HL
Day
Barbara L
BL
French
Jana S
JS
Labenia
Tiffany L
TL
Linbo
Mark S
MS
Myers
O Paul
OP
Olson
Catherine A
CA
Sloan
Sean
S
Sol
Frederick J
FJ
Griffin
Karl
K
Menard
Steven G
SG
Morgan
James E
JE
West
Tracy K
TK
Collier
Gina M
GM
Ylitalo
Gary N
GN
Cherr
Nathaniel L
NL
Scholz
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D054715:Cardiotoxins / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000187:drug effects*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000401:mortality*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D009336:Necrosis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000401:mortality / Q000662:veterinary*; D059392:Petroleum Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D054712:Salinity; D012495:San Francisco; D012623:Seawater; D013696:Temperature
D054715:Cardiotoxins; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons