,vJ,N4 BIOLOCKALAND OCEAN%'A'CHIC'Af.'"".-'!"'-'"' SIj'RVKY OF THK SANTA. BARBARA CHANNEL OIL SPILL BIOLOGICAL AND OCEANOGRAPHICAL SURVEY OF THE SANTA BARBARA CKVlIQEL OIL SPILL 1969-197 0 VOLUME I BIOLOGY AND BACTERIOLOGY Compiled By DALE STRAUGHAN ALLAN HANCOCK FOUNDATION UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA 1971 THE WORK HEREIN WAS PARTIALLY SUPPORTED BY A GRANT GH-89! FROM THE NATIONAL SEA GRANT PROGRAM U. S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE TO THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Sea. Grant Publication No. 2 December l970 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter l. Introduction, by Dale Straughan..... 1 Chapter 2. Natural oil seepsa historical background, by C. Ventura and J. Wintz......... 11 Chapter 3. Primary productivity in the Santa Barbara Channel, by M. Oguri and R. Kanter. 17 Chapter 4. Observations on the zooplankton of the eastern Santa Barbara Channel from May, 1969, to March, 1970, by Diane Robbins McGinnis. Chapter 5. The benthic fauna in the Santa Barbara Channel following the January, 1969, oil spill, by Kristian Fauchald . 61 Chapter 6. Some polychaetous annelids from the Santa Barbara shelf area, by Raymond Emerson y y y ~ ~ y y y ~ o o ~ ~ ~ o a o ~ 1 17 Chapter 7. Notes on some ophiuroids from the shelf off Santa Barbara, by Jack Wintz and Kristian Fauchald........... 149 Chapter 8. A study of three sandy beaches in the Santa Barbara, California, area, by Thomas Trask. ~ ~ . ~ ~ . 159 Chapter 9 ~ A study of the bacterial population of bottom sediments in the Santa Barbara Channel after the oil spill, by Sister Damien Marie Juge. ~....... 179 Chapter 10. Breeding and larval settlement of certain intertida.l invertebrates in the Santa Barbara Channel following pollution by oil, by Dale Straughan . ~ . 223 Chapter ll. Oil pollution and fisheries in the Santa Barbara Channel, by Dale Straughan. 245 Chapter 12 Whales, dolphins and oil pollution, by Robert L. Browne 1 1, Jr........ 255 Chapter 13. Oil contamination and elephant seal mortality: a "negative" finding, by Burney J. Le Boeuf . 277 Chapter 14. California sea lion mortality. natural or artifact'? by Robert, L. Brownell, Jr., and Burney J. Le Boeuf . 287 Chapter 15. Oil pollution and sea birds, by Dale Straughan . 307 Chapter 16. Santa Barbara's oiled birds, by Barbara Drinkwater, Maurine Leonard, and Susan Black. ~ . ~ . ~ 313 Chapter 17. The Santa Barbara oil spills of 1969: a post-spill survey of the rocky intertidal, by Nancy L. Nicholson and Robert L. Cimberg. 325 Chapter 18. "What has been the effect of the spill on the ecology in the Santa Barbara Channel' ?" by Dale Straughan. 401 PREFACE On February 20, 1969, the Western Oil and Gas Associa- tion awarded a research grant to the Allan Hancock Founda- ti,on, University of Southern California, to study the biological and oceanographical effects of oil spillage in the Santa Barbara Channel followi.ng the 1969 blowout The grant was for a twelve month field study so that indications of recovery, as well as damage, could be studied. The results of this research were to be published by the A3.lan Hancock Foundation and this publication "wi,ll be insofar as it can, a compendium of the findings of all persons working either directly within the project, or on the problem". To this end, we have summarized data available to us from government agencies, including the California State Water Quality Control Board, the California Department of Fish and Game, the Federal Mater Quality Administration, and the United States Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Unfortunately not all of their data was available to us, due to restric- tions imposed pending several legal suits. We have invited others to publish papers with us, e.g., Robert L. Brownell, Burney Le Boeuf, and Barbara Drinkwater et al. We have referred to papers and reports not published herein and attention is drawn to the preliminary repcrt, on ecologica3. effects of the Santa Barbara Oil Spill submitted by E K. Anderson, L.G. Jones, C.T. Mitchell and W.J. North to the Western Oil and Gas Association, and to the report written for the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration now FWQA! by M Neushul entitled "Santa Barbara Oil Pollution, 1969; Final Report Dealing with the Early Stages of the Santa Barbara Oil Spill". Many oil industry personnel were of considerable assistance throughout this research. life are grateful for this help. By prior agreement, assistance and advice was provided only when requested. We have also had the benefit of advice and criticism of a Liaison Committee formed of representatives from outside the oil industry This included one representative each from the Federal Water Quality Administration, the Cali.fornia State Water Qua3.ity Control Board, the California Department of Pish and Game, and Dr. Mason L. Hill, who was an active petroleum geo3.ogist before retirement. We wish to thank all these gentlemen for their time, consideration, and advice. The investigations were the responsibility of Dr. Bernard C. Abbott, Director of the Allan Hancock Foundation. Dr. Dale Straughan was the pro!ect director Dr. Ronald L. Kolpack was responsible for the geology and oceanography sections of the program. Dr. 0. Bandy and Dr. D.S. Gorsline have provided invaluable assistance in the geology and oceanography work. Dr. J. Pozworthy, Loyola University, was involved in the initial planning stages of the bacteriology program. Papers in Volume I, Biology and Bacteriology, were compiled by Dr. Dale Straughan and edited by Mrs. D. Halmos, editor of the Allan Hancock Publications. Papers in Volume IX, Physical, Chemical and Geological Studies, were compiled and edited by Dr. Ronald L. Kolpack. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION On January 28, 1969, there was a blowout at the Union Oil well on Platform A in the Santa Barbara Channel. During the following weeks, as the company struggled to control and contain the flow of oil, large areas of ocean and waterfront were polluted. Efforts to contain the spill and protect beaches were hampered and often destroyed by high winds and seas during the stormy weather. Damage caused by oil was difficult to assess because of the unusually high freshwater runoff both preceding and after the spill, Overall, the period was one of confusion and dire predictions--confusion because people did not grasp the magnitude of the problem and lacked the technology to cope with it, which gave way to dire predictions when the situation was grasped and the people of Santa Barbara felt helpless. Many informed people predicted that the area would be barren and lifeless and no longer a beauty to behold. However, a year later, the out- look is more optimistic. Out of the initial confusion one can piece together the events following the spill, determine at least some of the effects the oil had in the Santa Barbara Channel, and assess what we have learned from this experience. Fixed drilling Platform A is located about six miles southeast, of Santa Barbara and six miles southwest of Carpinteria, California Fig. 1!. This is on tract 402, which is leased jointly to Union Oil, Gulf Oil Corporation, Mobil Oil Corporation and Texaco. Union Oil is the operator of A-21 well. Drilling began on the A-21 well, the fifth well drilled from Platform A, on January 14, 1969. At mid- morning on January 28, mud began to flow from the drill pipe while it was being removed from the hole preparatory to run- ning electric logs and later setting production casing. The events which followed are detailed in the Battelle-Northwest Report 969!. Fourteen to twenty-five minutes after the blowout, bubbles were noticed in the ocean around the plat- form and a large boil, several hundred feet in diameter, appeared about 800 feet east of the platform. Next day there was also a smaller boil, 30 feet in diameter, at the northeast leg of the platform, with lesser bubbling between the boils. Bubbles extended to 300 feet west of the plat- form. Eleven days after the blowout, enough drilling mud was assembled to pump into the well. The boils diminished to a few bubbles. When there was no evidence of leakage at the surface, the well was cemented and filled to the ocean bottom. Only a few small gas bubbles appeared under the edge of the platform. On February 12, 13, seepage increased and extended out to 800 feet from the platform. The slick from this seepage was 30 to 150 feet wide and extended one to two miles, Adjacent wells went into production in an attempt to reduce pressure in the upper sand zone. Attempts were made to cement fissures on the ocean floor. On Feb- ruary 16, Union Oil placed the first steel hood in position. This hood collects oil over a wide area, by accumulating it at the top of the hood, from where it is pumped off. On February 23, the boil at the platform leg predominated, with lesser bubbling 500 feet. east and 300 feet west of the plat- form, At the end of February, the boil at the northwest leg diminished and seepage along the east and west lines was renewed. Subsequent to this, Battelle-Northwest 969! states that seepage continued at rates up to an estimated fifty barrels per day barrel = 42 gallons oil!. Present seepage rate April, 1970! varies up to ten barrels per day. After the spill, oil accumulated at sea under the influence of the prevailing north-northwest winds. A storm commencing on February 4 and continuing through February 7 shifted the winds from a southeasterly direction clockwise to the west, Thus, on the night of February 4, large quan- tities of oil entered the Santa Barbara Harbor and heavy pollution of the mainland beaches began.