Black oystercatchers spend their entire lives in or near
intertidal habitats and are highly vulnerable to oil pollution.
They are fully dependent on the nearshore environment and forage
exclusively on invertebrate species along shorelines. It is
estimated that 1,500–2,000 oystercatchers breed in south-central
Alaska. Only nine carcasses of adult oystercatchers were
recovered following the spill, but the actual number of
mortalities may have been several times higher. In addition to
direct mortalities, breeding activities were disrupted by the
oil and clean-up activities. When comparing 1989 with 1991,
significantly fewer pairs occupied and maintained nests on oiled
Green Island, while during the same two years the number of
pairs and nests remained similar on unoiled Montague Island.
Nest success on Green Island was significantly lower in 1989
than in 1991, but Green Island nest success in 1989 was not
lower than on Montague Island. In 1989, chicks disappeared from
nests at a significantly greater rate on Gre