THE PROBLEM O F OIL POLLUTION O F THE SEA
247
medium for spraying insecticide destroys the water-proofing of muskrat
fur. Amongst marine mammals, damage to seals has been reported
from the Antarctic by Lillie (1954), from Cornwall during the “ Torrey
Canyon ” incident by Spooner (1967), and during the Santa Barbara
Channel spillage in California (Smithsonian Institution, 1969b ; California Department of Fish and Game, 1969). The latter incident
occurred during the seasonal migration of the grey whale Eschrichtius
glaucus Cope, but it was observed that the whales took pains to avoid
the oil. Five whales and four porpoises (Phocaena sp.) were found dead,
a rather high mortality. Oil was not proved to be the cause, but the
corpse of a bottle-nosed dolphin Tursiops truncatus (Montagu) had
the blow-hole plugged with oil. Heavy slicks surrounded island
colonies of sea-lions Zalophus californianus Lesson and sea-elephants
Mirounga angustirostris Gill, amongst which further unexplained
mortalities were observed. Oil damage in seals is frequently said to
include severe eye irritation; a blind female now in a Cornish seal
sanctuary was rescued during a fuel-oil spillage some years ago.
3. Fish
The outer surfaces of fish, their mouths and gill-chambers, are
coated with a slimy oil-repellent mucus. Rushton and Jee (1923)
painted the gills of trout (Xalrno trutta L.) with fuel-oil and immersed
others completely in it, but commented that within a half-minute of
returning them to clean water, the oil had completely floated off. They
observed no harmful after-effects, but Thomas (quoted by Gutsell,
1921) found that a petroleum residue and a light fuel-oil, applied as
emulsions, coated the gills of his experimental fish and rapidly killed
them by suffocation. Presumably, pelagic eggs and young fish might
become trapped in slicks which have begun to form a mousse ”, but
evideiice from California during the wreck of the “ Tampico Maru ”
(North et al., 1964) and the Santa Barbara Channel spill (Smithsonian
:Cnstitution, 196913) suggests that adult fish avoid areas of heavy oil
contamination. The situation in Cornwall after the wreck of the
“ Torrey Canyon ” is complicated by the use of toxic emulsifiers on
doatiiig oil at sea ; 50-90% of the eggs of pilchard Sardina pilchardus
(Walbaum) were dead and young fish were few or absent in plankton
samples (Smith, 1968) but adult food-fish caught in the vicinity of oilslicks and spraying operations were numerous and in good condition
(Simpson, 1968a). However, Tendron (1968) reported a decrease in
numbers of such fish off Ushant. He also observed oily nodules in the
gut of ‘( whiting ”, probably Micromesistius poutassou (Risso), which
he attributed to their feeding on oil-impregnated detritus. Tainting of
247
medium for spraying insecticide destroys the water-proofing of muskrat
fur. Amongst marine mammals, damage to seals has been reported
from the Antarctic by Lillie (1954), from Cornwall during the “ Torrey
Canyon ” incident by Spooner (1967), and during the Santa Barbara
Channel spillage in California (Smithsonian Institution, 1969b ; California Department of Fish and Game, 1969). The latter incident
occurred during the seasonal migration of the grey whale Eschrichtius
glaucus Cope, but it was observed that the whales took pains to avoid
the oil. Five whales and four porpoises (Phocaena sp.) were found dead,
a rather high mortality. Oil was not proved to be the cause, but the
corpse of a bottle-nosed dolphin Tursiops truncatus (Montagu) had
the blow-hole plugged with oil. Heavy slicks surrounded island
colonies of sea-lions Zalophus californianus Lesson and sea-elephants
Mirounga angustirostris Gill, amongst which further unexplained
mortalities were observed. Oil damage in seals is frequently said to
include severe eye irritation; a blind female now in a Cornish seal
sanctuary was rescued during a fuel-oil spillage some years ago.
3. Fish
The outer surfaces of fish, their mouths and gill-chambers, are
coated with a slimy oil-repellent mucus. Rushton and Jee (1923)
painted the gills of trout (Xalrno trutta L.) with fuel-oil and immersed
others completely in it, but commented that within a half-minute of
returning them to clean water, the oil had completely floated off. They
observed no harmful after-effects, but Thomas (quoted by Gutsell,
1921) found that a petroleum residue and a light fuel-oil, applied as
emulsions, coated the gills of his experimental fish and rapidly killed
them by suffocation. Presumably, pelagic eggs and young fish might
become trapped in slicks which have begun to form a mousse ”, but
evideiice from California during the wreck of the “ Tampico Maru ”
(North et al., 1964) and the Santa Barbara Channel spill (Smithsonian
:Cnstitution, 196913) suggests that adult fish avoid areas of heavy oil
contamination. The situation in Cornwall after the wreck of the
“ Torrey Canyon ” is complicated by the use of toxic emulsifiers on
doatiiig oil at sea ; 50-90% of the eggs of pilchard Sardina pilchardus
(Walbaum) were dead and young fish were few or absent in plankton
samples (Smith, 1968) but adult food-fish caught in the vicinity of oilslicks and spraying operations were numerous and in good condition
(Simpson, 1968a). However, Tendron (1968) reported a decrease in
numbers of such fish off Ushant. He also observed oily nodules in the
gut of ‘( whiting ”, probably Micromesistius poutassou (Risso), which
he attributed to their feeding on oil-impregnated detritus. Tainting of