Canadian Wildlife Service-Environment Canada, Birds Oiled at Sea Programme, Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Canada.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2010 May;60(5):672-8. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.12.008. Epub 2010 Jan 13.
Operational discharges of hydrocarbons from maritime activities can have major cumulative impacts on marine ecosystems. Small quantities of oil (i.e., 10 ml) results in often lethally reduced thermoregulation in seabirds. Thin sheens of oil and drilling fluids form around offshore petroleum production structures from currently permissible operational discharges of hydrocarbons. Methodology was developed to measure feather microstructure impacts (amalgamation index or AI) associated with sheen exposure. We collected feather samples from two common North Atlantic species of seabirds; Common Murres (Uria aalge) and Dovekies (Alle alle). Impacts were compared after feather exposure to crude oil and synthetic lubricant sheens of varying thicknesses. Feather weight and microstructure changed significantly for both species after exposure to thin sheens of crude oil and synthetic drilling fluids. Thus, seabirds may be impacted by thin sheens forming around offshore petroleum production facilities from discharged produced water containing currently admissible concentrations of hydrocarbons.
海上活动排放的碳氢化合物会对海洋生态系统产生重大的累积影响。少量的石油（即 10 毫升）会导致海鸟的体温调节功能经常致命地降低。从目前允许的碳氢化合物作业排放中，近海石油生产结构周围会形成薄油膜和钻井液。已经开发出一种方法来测量与油膜暴露相关的羽毛微观结构影响（合并指数或 AI）。我们从两种常见的北大西洋海鸟中收集了羽毛样本；普通海鸠（Uria aalge）和海雀（Alle alle）。在羽毛暴露于不同厚度的原油和合成润滑剂油膜后，比较了影响。两种物种的羽毛重量和微观结构在暴露于薄油膜和合成钻井液后都发生了显著变化。因此，从含目前可接受浓度碳氢化合物的生产污水中排放的生产水形成的近海石油生产设施周围的薄油膜可能会对海鸟产生影响。
