The impact of the 1991 Gulf War oil spill on bird populations in the northern Arabian Gulf - a review

Peter Symens & Abdullah Suhaibani

A b s t r a c t: The Arabian Gulf is of international importance for breeding and wintering seabirds and wintering and migrating waterfowl. Following the massive oil spill which occurred in 1991, a monitoring scheme to assess possible damage was initiated. During the first months more than 30,000 wintering grebes and cormorants, including the endemic Socotra cormorant (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis) were killed by oil-fouling. This represents from 22 % to more than 50 % of the regional populations of the different species. Large numbers of waders were oil-fouled between February and May 1991. The affected intertidal zone along the Saudi Arabian coast was virtually abandoned for the following two years. Although some mortality has occurred, the records indicate that most waders had dispersed from the affected intertidal habitats and that at least a proportion of the oil-fouled waders survived. Since the autumn of 1992, large numbers of waders have reappeared on the previously oiled intertidal areas indicating that recovery is proceeding. The internationally important breeding colonies of terns on the offshore coral islands escaped any serious impact from the oil spills in 1991. The following year a major decrease in breeding success was caused by a lack of prey fish stocks. At the time of writing it is not clear whether the reduction in prey fish populations and the resulting decrease in the terns' breeding success is attributable to the Gulf War oil spill, or caused by natural fluctuations in fish populations.

BUNDY,G., CONNOR, R.J. & HARRISON, C.J.O. 1989. Birds of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. London, Whiterby.
CHAPMAN, B.R 1984. Seasonal abundance and habitat-use patterns of coastal bird populations on Padre and Mustang Island barrier beaches (following the Ixtoc 1 oil spill). Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Dept. Interior, Washington D.C. (FWS/OBS-83/31).
DANCHIN, E. 1992. Food shortage as a factor in the 1988 Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla breeding failure in Shetland. Ardea 80: 93-98.
EVANS, M.I. & KEIJL, G.O. in press. The impact of the Gulf War oil spills on the wader populations of the Saudi Arabian Gulf coast. Sandgrouse.
FURNESS, R.W. 1982. Competition between fisheries and seabird communities. Advanced Marine Biology 20: 225-307.
GALLAGHER, M.D., SCOTT, D.A., ORMOND, R.F.G., CONNOR, R.J. & JENNINGS, M.C. 1984. The Distribution and Conservation of Seabirds Breeding on the Coast and Islands of Iran and Arabia. In: Status and Conservation of the World's Seabirds. ICBP Technical Publication 2: 421-456.
GALLAGHER, M.D. & WOODCOCK, M.W. 1980. The Birds of Oman. London, Quartet.
HARRISON, J.G. & BUCK, W.F.A. 1967. Peril in perspective.
An account of oil pollution in the Medway Estuary. Special supplement to the Kent Bird Report 16 (1967). Kent Ornithological Society. 24 pp.
HARRISON, J.G. & BUCK, W.F.A 1968. The second winter survey following the Medway oil pollution of 1966. The Wildflowers' Association of Britain and Ireland. Annual Report and Handbook 1967-1968: 68-71.
HARRISON, J. & HARRISON, P. 1967. Oil pollution fiasco on the Medway Estuary. Birds 1: 134-136.
LARSEN, E.M. & RICHARDSON, S.A in prep. Some effects of a major oil spill on wintering shorebirds at Grays Harbor, Washington.
LEWIS, S.J. & MALECKI, RA 1984. Effects of egg oiling on larid productivity and population dynamics. Auk 101: 584­592.
MONAGHAN, P., UTTLEY, J.D. & BURNS, M.D. 1992. Effects of changes in food availability on reproductive effort in Arctic Terns Sterna paradisaea. Ardea 80: 71-81.
RICHARDSON, C.T. 1990. The Birds of the United Arab Emirates. U.K, Hobby Pub.
SUMMERS, R.W., UNDERHILL, J.G., PEARSON, D.J & SCOTT, D.A. 1987. Wader migration systems in southern and eastern Africa and western Asia. Wader Study Group Bulletin 49 / IWRB Special Publication 7: 15-34.
SYMENS, P. & EVANS, M.I. in press. The impact of the Gulf War oil spills on tern populations in the northern Arabian Gulf during the breeding season of 1991. Sandgrouse.
SYMENS, P., KINZELBACH, R, SUHAIBANI, A & WERNER, M. 1993. A Review of the Status, Distribution and Conservation of the Socotra Cormorant Phalacrocorax nigrogularis. Zoology of the Middle East 8: 17-30.
SYMENS, P. & SUHAIBANI, A. in press. The impact of the Gulf War oil spills on wintering seabird populations along the northern Arabian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia in 1991. Sandgrouse.
UTTLEY, J.D. 1992. Food supply and allocation of parental effort in Arctic Terns Sterna paradisaea. Ardea 80: 83-91.
WATT, I., JONES, D.A., & WOODHOUSE, 1. 1994. Intertidal clean-up activities and natural regeneration on the Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia after the Gulf oil spill. From 1991 to 1992. Marine Pollution Bulletin 27: 325-332.
WHITE, D.A., KING, K.A. & COON, N.C. 1979. Effects of No. 2 fuel oil on hatchability of marine and estuarine bird eggs. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 21: 7-10.
ZWARTS, L. 1987. Birds and other key species. In: Saudi Arabia: An Assessment of Biotopes and Coastal Zone Management Requirements for the Arabian Gulf. Unpublished Report. Jeddah, MEPA.
ZWARTS, L., FELEMBAN, H. & PRICE, ARG. 1991. Wader counts along the Saudi Arabian Gulf coast suggest that the Gulf harbours millions of waders. Wader Study Group Bulletin 63: 25-32.