Vol. 53 - Alaska Resources Library and Information Services

3. HISTOPATHOLOGY
3.1 Materials and Methods
3.1.1. Collections. The first series of specimens of Mya truncata were
collected by divers between August 7 and August 17, 1981. A second group of specimens
was collected between August 21 and September 3, 1981, following the application of
dispersed oil to Bay 11 on August 19, and of dispersed oil to Bay 9 (and subsequently to
Bay 10) on August 27.
Because of the unlikely possibility that any major pathological
conditions caused by the oil or dispersed oil would be apparent within the approximately
two-week period following the spill, a third series of samples was not collected until a
year later, on August 27 and 28, 1982.
Bay 9.
Specimens of Macoma calcarea were collected prior to the spill only from
Collections were made in Bay 7, the control bay, on September 2 and 3, 1981, a
few days after oil and dispersant were added to Bay 9, and almost two weeks after oil was
applied to Bay 11.
The dates and sites of collection and the number of specimens of each species
collected for histopathology investigations are shown in Tables 3.1 and 3.2.
3.1.2. Processing. Specimens were fixed at the Baffin Island location by the
collectors. Fixation for the 1981 collections was in Carson's modified Millonig's
phosphate-buffered formalin. This fixative was used rather than the originally proposed
Helly's fixative because of its ease of handling by the divers under field conditions.
Neutral buffered 10 percent formalin was used for the 1982 collections for the same
reason.
For fixation, larger specimens such as Mya truncata were to have one valve
removed before being placed in the fixative. Smaller specimens such as Macoma calcarea
were to be treated similarly if possible, or at least to have the shell cracked slightly to
permit entry of the fixative. In fact, some specimens were placed intact in the fixative.
The specimens were placed in fixative in small plastic tissue bags, in which were also
placed coded identification tags.
down and secured with attached plastic strips.
The bags were then sealed by having the tags rolled
The bags were packed in shipping
containers and shipped to the laboratory in Duxbury, Massachusetts for histopathological
analysis.
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