Oil Pollution and Poisoning of the Wild Bird in Hokkaido, and the Threat of the “Sakhalin Oil and Gas Extraction Projects”

Abstract

　On Sakhalin Island (Russia), oil and natural gas exploitation called the Sakhalin Development is underway along the northeastern coastal area, the breeding ground of the endangered Steller’s Sea Eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus). An ecological study of this species conducted since 2000, has found 300 breeding pairs and 1,000 nests around an extremely shallow lagoon, which communicates with the Sea of Okhotsk. There is a risk that if a pipeline laid in lagoon or coastal wetland breaks, the resulting oil contamination will destroy the ecosystem and the food resources of the eagle. Sakhalin Island also has fragile soils and active faults which undergo repeated freeze-thaw cycles. Pipeline ruptures in these areas could spread oil throughout the adjacent rivers, wetlands and lagoons, and even to the Sea. In February 2006, more than 5,500 petroleum contaminated sea birds were found dead on the Shiretoko Peninsula of Hokkaido. The oil, from an unknown source, may have drifted with the coastal eastern Sakhalin current to affect these birds. Oil contamination causes birds to lose buoyancy and insulation which leads to drowning and/or hypothermia. Many individuals had petroleum in their gastrointestinal tract, often ingested through feather preening. Two dead Steller’s Sea Eagles were found in the same area as the seabirds. The stomachs of these birds contained blackish-brown oil covered seabird feathers and bones. In addition, pathology associated with heavy oil ingestion, such as adrenal gland and thyroid enlargement, were found.