Plan Aims to Replenish Seabird Populations

Federal and state wildlife officials Wednesday released a $2.5-million plan to increase populations of Southern California seabirds, making up for the thousands of birds killed in the worst oil spill in Orange County history.

Eleven years after a ruptured oil tanker blackened 15 miles of the county’s coast, wildlife agencies released a long-awaited plan to help replenish the numbers of California brown pelicans, western and Clark’s grebes and other seabirds.

“It was a devastating spill to local wildlife,” said Carol Gorbics, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Carlsbad office. “The natural recovery process probably took place in the years subsequent to the spill and did a lot to restore the environment that was directly impacted. But the wildlife that died or weren’t born as a result of the spill are what we’re trying to target with these restoration actions.”

On Feb. 7, 1990, the oil tanker American Trader ran aground off Huntington Beach, spilling more than 416,000 gallons of Alaskan crude oil that covered 60 square miles of ocean. No one knows how many seabirds were coated in oil and perished at sea, but wildlife agencies estimate that as many as 3,200 birds died and 9,500 chicks were not born as a result.

Along with the federal fish and wildlife agency, the California Department of Fish and Game and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also helped craft the five-part plan. The actions being taken include:

* The eradication of the black rat on Anacapa Island off Ventura County, which was historically predator-free breeding habitat for seabirds. This is the largest project and will cost nearly $1 million. The rats, which were accidentally introduced, eat bird eggs and chicks.

* The creation, enhancement and protection of endangered brown pelican roosting sites. Planners have not decided where in Southern California the roosting sites will be restored, but Bolsa Chica is one of the locations under consideration.

* Restoring the western and Clark’s grebe breeding site at Clear Lake, Eagle Lake and Lake Almanor in Northern California.

* International efforts to enhance habitat, and increase public education, to try to reduce disturbance of brown pelicans in Mexico, where 90% of the birds breed.

* Public education projects at restoration sites and elsewhere.

The project costs are unknown. The funding comes from a 1994 legal settlement federal and state authorities reached with BP America Inc., BP Oil Supply Co. and BP Oil Shipping Co.

The funds were held up by legal challenges until 1998, delaying the restoration project.