Abstract
In January 1986, an oil spill occurred in the Japan Sea. The oil spread 400km along the coast from Shimane Prefecture to Fukui Prefecture. The spill affected a large population of migrating seabirds in Shimane and Tottori prefectures. Among the 1, 761 seabirds mostly counted dead in Shimane Prefecture during late January 1986, about 93.5% were Alcidae. The species most seriously affected was the Rhinoceros Auklet Cerorhinca monocerata, with 1, 326 (75.3%) recorded. The second most seriously affected were Synthliboramphus spp., with 320 (18.2%) victims. Twelve ringed Cerorhinca monocerata were affected, 11 of these had been ringed on Teuri Island, in the northern part of the Japan Sea, off Hokkaido, and one originated from Ashi Island in the Pacific Ocean off northern Honshu.
