(Yale University, 1980-05)
Sanders, Howard L.; Grassle, J. Frederick; Hampson, George R.; Morse, Linda S.; Garner-Price, Susan; Jones, Carol C.
To determine carefully the effects on the marine and estuarine benthos of Number 2 fuel oil
spilled by the barge FLORIDA off West Falmouth, Massachusetts, we sampled for many
months along an onshore-offshore gradient of pollution, and less intensively at unoiled sites.
Analyses of hydrocarbons established that pollution was greatest and most persistent in the
intertidal and subtidal zones of Wild Harbor River, less severe in degree and duration at stations farthest from shore. A variety of concurrent analyses showed that disturbance of the fauna
was most severe and longest lasting at the most heavily oiled sites, and least severe but perceptible
at lightly oiled stations. Patterns of disturbance were not related to granulometry of
the sediments. Plants, ctustaceans, fish, and birds suffered both high mortality immediately
after the spill, and physiological and behavioral abnormalities directly related to high concentrations
of the fuel oil. Five years after the spill its effects on the biota were still detectable, and
partly degraded #2 fuel oil was still present in the sediments in Wild Harbor River and estuary.
