Pathology of Common Murres and Cassin's Auklets exposed to oil

Toxic effects of orally ingested oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill on laughing gulls

“…The presence of Heinz bodies and degenerate organelles in the RBCs in both groups of oil-dosed LAGUs (but not in the control group) indicates that a component of oil-induced anemia could be the result of oxide radical damage of RBCs and intravascular hemolysis as previously documented Leighton, 1985Leighton, , 1993Troisi et al, 2007). This response is consistent with that reported in other avian species dosed with oil (Fry and Lowenstine, 1985;Hartung and Hunt, 1966;Lee et al, 1985;Leighton, 1985Leighton, , 1993Pattee and Franson, 1982;Szaro et al, 1978) or exposed to oil as the result of a spill (Yamato et al, 1996).…”

“…Necrosis of individual hepatocytes and apoptosis were prevalent in the gulls. Hepatic hemosiderosis in oil-exposed birds has been reported in numerous previous studies (Fry and Lowenstine, 1985;Pattee and Franson, 1982;Yamato et al, 1996). In the present study, hemosiderosis was minimal regardless of the severity of the anemia and no difference between oil-dosed birds and control birds with normal PCVs was identified upon standard hematoxylin and eosin (H & E) staining or Prussian blue staining (Khan and Nag, 1993).…”

“…Cassin's auklets (Ptychoramphus aleuticus) exposed to oil via external application and common murres (Uria aalge) recovered from a spill of bunker C fuel oil had renal tubular necrosis (Fry and Lowenstine, 1985). Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) ducklings fed a diet containing 5.0% South Louisiana crude had tubular inflammation and degeneration in the kidney (Szaro et al, 1978).…”

Gas Chromatographic Analysis of External Oil and Blackish Liquid Contents of Digestive Organs of Rhinoceros Auklets (Cerorhinca monocerata) in the Japan Sea.

“…A few Cassin's Auklets (Ptychoramphus aleuticus) which had been experimentally dosed with crude oil externally for 4 days and subsequently died, had black intestinal contents which smelled oily and were not occult blood (Fry & Lowenstine 1985). 77% of our 44 dead, oiled Rhinoceros Auklets impacted by the heavy oil spill off the Shimane coast also had blackish liquid in their alimentary tracts; however, this liquid was not oily to the touch at all.…”

“…Intake of some amount of oil caused suffocation and irritation of internal organs in birds in the laboratory (Hartung & Hunt 1966, Beer 1968, Holmes et al 1978, 1979, Gorsline et al 1981, Fry & Lowenstine 1985. In the southern Japan Sea, oil from a large spill of unknown origin was first observed along beaches in western Shimane Prefecture, western Honshu, on 4 January 1986 and then moved easterly with the Tushima Warm Current to Fukui Prefecture on around 20 January.…”