29.12.2013 Views

Vol. 53 - Alaska Resources Library and Information Services

Vol. 53 - Alaska Resources Library and Information Services

Vol. 53 - Alaska Resources Library and Information Services

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

Overt, rapid mortality of adult crabs, including mature females, could<br />

be caused by exposure to rather high levels of hydrocarbons (notably<br />

the WSF) dissolved in water <strong>and</strong> via uptake into tissues <strong>and</strong> accumulation<br />

in certain organs.<br />

As a second mode of toxicity, water insoluble<br />

hydrocarbons mixed to the bottom <strong>and</strong> covering the benthos could kill<br />

crabs by actual coverage of the body <strong>and</strong> mechanical impairment of<br />

respiration <strong>and</strong> feeding.<br />

Toxic levels of WSF have not been well established<br />

for adult king crab, although it is known that adult stages are<br />

much less sensitive than are larvae <strong>and</strong> juveniles (Rice, et al. 1979;<br />

1983; Armstrong, et al. 1983a). An approximate range of 96 hr LC 5 0<br />

values for adult crab is 4 to 8 mg WSF 1[superscript]-1<br />

(Rice, et al. 1979).<br />

This<br />

is a rather high water concentration <strong>and</strong> may be found only in the<br />

immediate vicinity of a spill. Models of oil transport invariably<br />

account for rapid volitalization of a large fraction of the hydrocarbons<br />

<strong>and</strong> dilution of the remaining WSF, so that resultant concentrations<br />

are less than 1.0 mg 1[superscript]-1<br />

only a few kilometers from a point source<br />

(Armstrong, et al. 1983b; Curl <strong>and</strong> Manen 1982).<br />

Since adult crabs are<br />

epibenthic, it seems unlikely that sufficiently high levels of oil WSF<br />

would affect a large area.<br />

Given the distribution of mature females in<br />

the SEBS that exceeds an area of 50,000 km 2 , it seems unlikely that a<br />

majority of the adult populations would be significantly impacted via<br />

acute toxicity of the WSF.<br />

Mixing <strong>and</strong> vertical transport of oil to the benthos might pose an<br />

alternative route of exposure of adult females to hydrocarbons.<br />

Whether<br />

or not a significant portion of the population would be acutely stressed<br />

is, again, related to the area affected.<br />

Transport models of Sonntag,<br />

et al. (1980) <strong>and</strong> an analysis by Curl <strong>and</strong> Manen (1982) predict that 5-16<br />

g oil m[superscript]<br />

-2<br />

could reach the bottom. The toxicity of this to adults is<br />

difficult to gauge, but Armstrong, et al. (1983b) suggested that, over<br />

long exposures of several months, such levels would likely impact<br />

developing eggs more than adults (see Effects on Reproduction).<br />

Since<br />

most scenarios for the SEBS have dealt with small spills (e.g., 10,000<br />

bbl<br />

spilled off the NAS covered an area of about 8 x 20 km), adult<br />

404

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!