EXPERTS SAY ONLY EAGLE HAS OVERCOME '89 SPILL

By NATALIE PHILLIPS
Daily News reporter

ANCHORAGE- Seven years after the Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil in Prince William Sound, scientists say the bald eagle is the only injured species whose numbers have returned to normal.

The 20 types of birds and marine life scientists identified as harmed by the 1989 spill are now classified in four categories -- recovered, recovering, not recovering and unknown, said Stan Senner, science coordinator for the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council.

The recovering species include pink salmon, mussels and common murres -- the seabird hardest hit by the spill.

The species whose numbers are still declining include harbor seals, harlequin ducks, sea otters in the western parts of the Sound, marble murrelets and cormorants.

And scientists don't know whether numbers of black oystercatchers, common loons and clams are rebounding or declining, Senner told an audience gathered at the Hotel Captain Cook Saturday for the final day of a three-day symposium about the effects of the spill.

No one knows exactly how many birds and marine mammals were killed when the Exxon Valdez oil tanker went aground in 1989. Scientists reported finding the carcasses of 250,000 seabirds, 1,000 sea otters and 300 harbor seals. They estimate the actual deaths may have been two to three times greater.

Time has helped heal much of the damage done to wildlife and habitat, Senner said.

Studies of the injured species are being funded by $900 million paid by Exxon in an out-of-court settlement to the state and federal governments. The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council was created to oversee the spending.

In the early years, the council members funded studies of individual species believed harmed by the spill. They shifted their focus in 1994. Commercial fishermen in Prince William Sound lobbied for the settlement money to be spent on a broader look at the health of the Sound's ecosystems and how different species inter-related.

''We've tried to take an approach that will have a more lasting value,'' explained Robert Spies, the Trustee Council's chief scientist. The Trustee Council is funding three ecosystem studies. The council expects to spend roughly $16 million on studies this year.

The Sound Ecosystem Assessment study is designed to find why pink salmon and Pacific herring populations in the Sound fluctuate.

The Nearshore Vertebrate Predator project is looking at four indicator species -- sea otters, river otters, harlequin ducks and pigeon guillemots -- to determine the overall health of the nearshore ecosystem, which is the area where most oil was deposited.

And the Apex Predator Experiment is looking at the availability of small forage fish and how that relates to the health and abundance of common murres, pigeon guillemots and black-legged kittiwakes in the Sound.

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