WATER POLLUTION CONTROL RESEARCH SERIES
15080EAL02/71
Santa Barbara Oil Spill:
Short-term Analysis of
Macroplankton and Fish
NVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY . WATER QUALITY OFFICE
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WATER POLLUTION CONTROL RESEARCH SERIES
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2024.2.
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SANTA BARBARA OIL SPILL: SHORT-TERN ANALYSIS
OF MACROPLANKTON AND FISH
by
University of California, Santa Barbara
Department of Biological Sciences
Santa Barbara, California 93106
for the
OFFICE OF WATER QUALITY RESEARCH
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Project # 15080EAL
Contract # 14-12-534
February 1971
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price 70 cents
Stock Number 5501-0100
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EPA Review Notice
This report has been reviewed by the Water
Quality Office, EPA, and approved for publication.
Approval does not signify that the contents
necessarily reflect the views and policies of
the Environmental Protection Agency, nor does
mention of trade names or commercial products
constitute endorsement or recommendation for
use.
ii
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ABSTRACT
Collections of deep and shallow macroplankton from the Santa
Barbara Channel area of the 1969 oil spill and from the Santa
Cruz Basin further offshore were compared with others from
previous years for possible oil damage. Spring and summer
collections from nearshore bottom communities of fishes and
large invertebrates around kelp beds near the blowout area were
compared with collections made either prior to the spill or
from an extrinsic area. Because no noticeable fish kills
followed the blowout, less obvious criteria of possible damage
to the macroplankton and bottom communities were investigated:
decreased species diversity, numerical evenness, and abundance;
increased patchiness of species distributions; changes in
community composition favoring the more tolerant species; and
correlations with amounts of oil and tar estimated on station.
Most observed changes, apparently unrelated to the spill,
corresponded with various climatic anomalies during March
through August, 19&9- Thg bottom-fish communities resembled
their counterparts in"not oiled" environments; sampling bias
and environmental heterogeneity probably caused the observed
minor differences in community structure. Larvae of common
fishes and invertebrates were abundant in the offshore plankton.
After the blowout, the composition and mode of the Channel
Island sport fishery (as analyzed from Oxnard and Port Hueneme
catch reports, in lieu of reports from the temporarily debili-
tated Santa Barbara fishery) changed with seasonal trends and
probably not as a direct effect of the spill. Of all subtidal
events examined during the present short-term study, only the
temporary disappearance of tiny mysid shrimps inhabiting the
kelp canopy was a likely direct effect.
This report was submitted in fulfillment of Contract Number
lU-12-53^- under the (partial) sponsorship of the Water Quality
Office, Environmental Protection Agency.
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CONTENTS
Section
I Conclusions
II Recommendations
III Introduction
IV Offshore Macroplankton Communities
V Nearshore Bottom Fish Communities
VI Acknowledgments
VII References
VIII Appendices
1
5
7
15
37
57
59
65
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FIGURES
PAGE
1 SAMPLING LOCALITIES IN THE SANTA BARBARA
CHANNEL AND VICINITY 16
2 TEMPERATURE-SALINITY WATER-MASS CURVES FOR THE
SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL DURING FEBRUARY-MARCH OF
YEARS PRIOR TO AND AFTER THE BLOWOUT 31
3 TEMPERATURE-SALINITY WATER-MASS CURVES FOR THE
SANTA CRUZ BASIN DURING FEBRUARY-MARCH OF
YEARS PRIOR TO AND AFTER THE BLOWOUT 32
k DISSOLVED OXYGEN BY DEPTH FOR THE SANTA
BARBARA CHANNEL DURING FEBRUARY-MARCH OF
YEARS PRIOR TO AND AFTER THE BLOWOUT 33
5 DISSOLVED OXYGEN BY DEPTH FOR THE SANTA
CRUZ BASIN DURING FEBRUARY-MARCH OF YEARS
PRIOR TO AND AFTER THE BLOWOUT &
6 ABUNDANCE-DIVERSITY CURVES COMPARING "NOT OILED"
AND "OILED" REPRESENTATIONS OF THE DEEP SANDY
MUD COMMUNITY OF BOTTOM FISHES ^9
7 ABUNDANCE-DIVERSITY CURVES COMPARING "NOT OILED"
AND "OILED" REPRESENTATIONS OF THE SEAPERCH
COMMUNITY THAT INHABITS SANTA MONICA BAY AND THE
TRANSITIONAL ZONE AT THE MARGINS OF SANTA
BARBARA KELP BEDS 50
8 ABUNDANCE-DIVERSITY CURVES COMPARING "NOT OILED"
AND "OILED" REPRESENTATIONS OF THE SHALLOW
FLATFISH COMMUNITY THAT INHABITS SANDY BOTTOMS 51
9 SEASONAL CHANGE IN THE CHANNEL ISLAND SPORT
FISHERY 53
vi
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TABLES
No.
1 Analysis of macroplankton trawled from the
Santa Barbara Channel and Santa Cruz Basin
in February-March of years before and during
the oil spill 19
2 Relative abundance of macroplankton species
ranked by year for the Santa Barbara Channel
and Santa Cruz Basin and listed by community
or ecological group 20
3 Among-year differences in composition of three
ecological groups of macroplankton 21
k Average catch rates and patchiness indices of
species representing macroplankton groups
and of plankton volumes 23
5 Abundances and catch rates of larval fishes
trawled in the basins during February-
March of years before and after the blowout 27
6 Abundance ranks and catch rates of macro-
plankton trawled from the Channel 28
7 Catches of bottom fishes and invertebrates kh
8 Observed and expected numbers of fish species
shared and not shared in pairs of collections,
one member trawled in 1967, the other in
1969 ^5
9 Comparison of fish catches trawled prior to
the oil blowout with comparable catches
trawled after the blowout U5
10 Comparison of fish catches trawled off Zuma
Beach and Paradise Cove with comparable
catches trawled in the "oiled" Santa
Barbara Channel 1*6
11 Factors that group species and other variables
into habitat associations and communities or
seasonal causal arrays 1^.7
VI1
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SECTION I
CONCLUSIONS
Species abundance, diversity, evenness, and distributional patch-
iness, along with representations of community composition, pro-
vided contrasts between sublittoral habitat groups of fishes and
invertebrates exposed to the Santa Barbara Oil Spill and their
"not oiled" counterparts sampled either prior to the spill or near
Zuma Beach south of Santa Barbara. Sampling problems generally
limited the precision of estimates of these parameters. Popu-
lations were usually heterogeneous; sampling by trawl was neces-
sarily non-random; strict schedules were imposed during the short-
term study; comparative collections from "not oiled" environments
were often incomplete; and sample sizes varied because missing
data could not be replaced. All correlation coefficients computed
for the community analyses, however, were based on more than 50
observations appropriately transformed to square roots or logarithms,
so their probability estimates were reasonably precise. For
example, correlation coefficients approaching +.30 were significant
at the P = .05 level. And many contrasts were made non-paramet-
rically, obviating the assumption of equal samples of random
variates.
Consequently, the following conclusions were based on objective
and subjective interpretations of the data. Some statistics
inadequate by themselves were reinforced by our general knowledge
of the local marine environment, which resembles other southern
Califoraian habitats described in previous studies. For example,
the single observation of fish biomass from the deep nearshore
locality off Zuma Beach seemed comparable to the average of 19
such observations made off Santa Barbara, even though it has no
confidence limits.
About one month after the blowout, midwater trawl collections of
macroplankton (small fishes and invertebrates) from different
depths in the Santa Barbara Channel and the Santa Cruz Basin
showed no significant decreases in species diversity, evenness
of abundance, overall abundance, or increase in patchiness, rela-
tive to similar collections from previous years. Deep and shallow
macroplankton communities either showed little change or showed
increased diversity and greater abundances of some species in the
Channel. These few detectable changes seemed to be caused by
oceanographic anomalies, rather than to the oil whose effects
should be detrimental. Strong offshore winds with severe winter
storms ventilated the basins. Also, deep intrusions of water from
the south may have affected the distribution and abundance of a
few deep-sea species. Shallow collections contained apparently
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healthy fish and crab larvae.
The shallow bottom fish fauna about the "oiled" kelp beds off
Santa Barbara was more diverse and abundant than its counterpart
near Zuma Beach, where the environment appeared to be less pro-
ductive. Collections made off Santa Barbara in 19&9 generally
did not differ significantly in abundance from those made in 196?
before the spill.
Collections of nearshore bottom animals trawled off Santa Barbara
in spring, 1967 resembled those trawled after the blowout in 19&9.
Statistical comparisons of fish collections between the two years
revealed only 5 significant differences in 11 possible contrasts.
These differences were attributable to but two extraordinary
collections, one from 196? containing large numbers of rockfishes,
the other from 1969 containing an unusual diversity of rare flat-
fishes. These were unlikely results of oil damage.
A multivariate analysis of species abundances and other environ-
mental variables revealed probable occurrences of three overlapping
bottom-fish communities in the area. A fourth factor related
seasonal change in the Channel Island sport fishery to various
oceanographic and biological trends. The variable of "surface
oil amount" recorded on station had a very low commonality (inter-
action) with the others. Because the oil accumulated around kelp
beds over a community dominated by seaperches, it correlated weakly
and positively with seaperch abundances only. No species corre-
lated negatively with oil accumulation.
Diversity and composition of the three communities were similar
between "oiled" and "not oiled" environments. The abundance
hierarchies of species in the Deep Sandy Mud Community (depth of
100-200 ft), which included several flatfishes, rockfishes, a
seaperch, and midshipman fish, did not differ significantly. Minor
differences in the Seaperch and Shallow Flatfish communities
(depth of 15-40 ft) probably reflected habitat differences because
comparable "not oiled" collections from appropriate shallow local-
ities were scarce or unavailable.
The Seasonal Sportfish Factor indicated a change in fishing effort
with the arrival of large migratory fishes in the Channel during
the period of spring and summer warming. Because these preferred
game fishes are caught near the surface, deep fishing effort and,
consequently, the rockfish catch naturally decreased, a typical
seasonal changeover unrelated to the oil spill.
Environmental heterogeneity and sampling bias accounted for most
of the observed differences between the "oiled" and "not oiled"
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collections. Oceanographic trends distinguishing the spring and
summer following the blowout may have accounted for all but one of
the remaining differences: the slightly higher biomass and diver-
sity of Channel macroplankton in 19&9, the late arrival of half-
banded rockfish nearshore, the decreased diversity of the Shallow
Flatfish Community, the slight delay in onset of the surface sport
fishery for shallow game fishes, and the seasonal decline in can-
opy mysids. Small mysid shrimps, normally abounding over the
kelp fronds, may have died or left as advancing oil slicks fouled
the canopy. Their population density then rose steadily during
the spring and summer.
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SECTION II
RECOMMENDATIONS
Because short-term oil damage to the sampled plankton and bottom
communities was apparently negligible or undetectable by the
present methods, we commend the prudent handling of the Santa
Barbara oil spill. The laborious mechanical cleanup after the
blowout was motivated by the previous damaging usage of noxious
chemical dispersants both offshore and nearshore after the wreck
of the tanker TORREY CANYON off the Plymouth Coast of England.
Therefore, we recommend extension of the present method of mechan-
ical removal of crude oil as it drifts onshore. This could be
implemented by trapping the floating oil over the leak and re-
moving most of it before it drifts ashore.
Refined petroleum products containing relatively high concentra-
tions of volatile fractions may present as great or greater
danger to sea life than crude oil. Both crudes and refined
products vary so widely in their composition that it is impossible
to generalize their relative effects. (Dr. Max Blumer and asso-
ciates suggest that the heavier fractions of crude oils present
a much longer term threat of damage than do the lighter ends.)
Tanker traffic in the Channel, made even more hazardous by the
oil platforms, may create a greater danger in the future. Per-
haps this traffic should be diverted seaward of the Channel
Islands.
Studies like the present are valuable only insofar as they can
be compared with similar studies in unpolluted environments. In
the absence of obvious extensive kills of fish and other subtidal
organisms, oil damage is detectable only by contrasting the polluted
with similar unpolluted systems that serve as controls. In the
present study, the requisite comparisons were fortuitously pro-
vided through previous, completely unrelated studies. But these
were at best barely adequate for the assessment of nearshore
bottom communities near the kelp beds. Therefore, we recommend
increased support for extensive quantitative analyses of marine
environments before major accidents of pollution. Using such
studies as controls, initial covert damage to ecosystems might
be detected in time for correction.
Even when short-term effects of an oil spill are difficult to
detect, long-term effects may be cumulative and ultimately dis-
astrous. Periodic environmental monitoring over long periods of
time should be used to detect possible cumulative effects. With
the early detection of cumulative damage, appropriate corrective
measures may save the natural ecosystem, which might otherwise
be destroyed.
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At the onset of the Santa Barbara spill more communication and
cooperation among local and federal agencies might have hastened
preliminary cleanup and assessment of environmental damage. Con-
siderable confusion and duplicated effort seemed to plague the
period immediately after the blowout.
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SECTION III
INTRODUCTION
Following the oil blowout on January 28, 1969, concern was
expressed for the fate of Santa Barbara's fisheries. Even
after no obvious fish kill was reported, commercial and sport
fishermen alike feared that the oil might decimate populations
of small planktonic animals. Plankton sustain the anchovy, an
important bait and forage fish of the area. Even surface pollu-
tion may ultimately damage bottom communities, because many
fishes that live on the bottom as adults bear tiny planktonic
larvae.
Typical of dire predictions were such statements as (Santa
Barbara News Press, 2-5-69): "Pollution of the offshore and
inshore waters could kill off plankton and other marine life
necessary to a marine biology teaching program ..." and from
Henry Ewald's column, "sport fishing and commercial fishing
will be ruined for years." Oil contamination "...will keep out
the migratory fish for years. Anchovies will die, and this is
the food supply for the migratory fish. We may not see any
local fish, either, if the spill kills the remaining food supply."
Many feared that dispersants used to cut the oil would kill
plankton, small fish and various other marine life. Mindful
of the disastrous oil spill from the TORREY CANYON off Plymouth,
England, the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration
limited chemical spraying to the offshore concentrations of the
main slick (News Press, 2-22-69). A noted marine biologist
predicted that the oil would kill all marine life along 20 miles
of coast (ibid., 2-10). Mr. Charles Ireland, News Press staff
writer, summarized much of the public reaction (ibid., 6-15):
"It has been a bleak year... for Santa Barbara Fisheries..."
"Looking back over nearly half a century of local fishing,
Albert Castagnola said he could not remember when it was as bad
as it has been since the oil spill." Until a few weeks ago
there had been virtually no anchovies in the Channel "no
anchovy, no plankton, no larva, no halibutnothing." A commer-
cial gill netter, Mr. Tom Farmer, speaking of spawning sea bass
and halibut, observed that, "Those fish come up here and spawn.
This year apparently they're not coming here to spawn and if they
did come the eggs might die because they're so sensitive to an
environment..."
During May and June, however, scattered reports implied no such
disaster. Plankton and certain fishes appeared plentiful, if not
as abundant as in previous years. Dr. Robert Holmes of UCSB con-
cluded that phytoplankton appeared normal (Holcomb, 1969). Even
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in late February, Mr. Fred Hartley, in his report to the Union Oil
Company share holders, noted that the California Department of
Fish and Game could find no visible damage to fish life (News
Press, 2-21). Dr. William Clarke of the Westinghouse Corporation
(personal communication), who dove in the polluted region, saw no
dead fish in the kelp beds, and, from a deep submersible, observed
many normally shallow fishes in deep water off Anacapa Island.
Although Santa Barbara commercial fish landings remained subnormal,
this may have reflected reduced fishing effort. Before the spill
slackened, oil driven onshore by the severe winter storms befouled
the harbor. Fishing gear was apparently rendered useless in the
oily waters. Some commercial fishermen consider May and June as
normally slow months and the general negative consensus generated
little enthusiasm for fishing. Anchovies had provided a small,
but workable sport fishery until the local fleet went out of
business for a variety of reasons. By early June, Mr. Ewald had
reported a few halibut caught around the Channel Islands and fair
calico bass fishing at Naples Reef off Santa Barbara (News Press,
6-6). In contrast to the fin fisheries, lobster and abalone
catches were fair to good (ibid., 6-15). By July, SCUBA divers
had reported plentiful halibut; successful grunion runs were con-
tinuing, even on "polluted" beaches, and barracuda and bonito had
enhanced the sport fishery (Henry Ewald in the News Press, 7-11,
7-30). Finally in September, Mr. Ewald observed that "it has been
years since local fishermen have been able to catch albacore so
close to home" (ibid., 9-l6).
A short cruise by the U. S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries
Research Vessel DAVID STARR JORDAN detected no immediate damage to
offshore plankton (U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1969a); on
February 11, the La Jolla Fishery-Oceanography Center, under the
direction of Dr. Paul Smith, investigated possible effects of the
oil spill on the pelagic ecosystem in the Santa Barbara Channel.
A direct and rapid series of observations of fresh plankton from
water covered by oil and oil-detergent mixtures, compared with
others outside the polluted areas, revealed no gross evidence of
dead or deformed fish eggs and larvae and no significant departure
from the expected composition of fish larval catches, established
from ten years' sampling at a nearby station. The ratio of anchovy
eggs to larvae indicated no apparent increase in larval mortality
and more than 2% of all larvae in the plankton tows in oiled water
had been spawned before the spill, a normal abundance of older
larvae for unpolluted samples. The relative abundances of others,
e.g., hake, rockfish, and flatfish larvae were typical of the area.
The investigators cautioned, however, that analyses of catches
under the oil slick may be misleading because the slick moves
downwind much faster than the water some meters deeper where the
larvae live: the captured larvae may not have been under the slick
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very long. Concentrations of dissolved nutrients, e.g., nitrates
and phosphates resembled those from nearby clear water.
The measurements also showed possible adverse effects of the oil
slick (U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1969a). Under the brown
crude oil, ambient light was reduced at two meters to only .3-10$
of that in nearby clear water. Therefore, crude oil absorbs con-
siderable light, which could chronically reduce photosynthesis and
thereby severly deplete the standing crop of phytoplankton. In
fact, pump samples of phytoplankton taken across the Channel were
considerably poorer than others from a nearby station in January.
Because little oxygen diffuses through an oil film, concentrations
were lower under the heavy oil, although still sufficient for
respiration.
The prudent and limited use of dispersants may have avoided severe
damage to plankton and fish communities. Dr. Reuben Lasker (U. S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, 1969a) found that 2 ppm of COREXIT ?66U,
previously acclaimed non-toxic to marine life, increased mortality
of fish eggs and larvae some 57%. Nelson-Smith (196?) concluded
that only two groups of constituents account for almost all crude
oil toxicity: volatile aromatics like benzene, and phenolic sub-
stances like naphthenic acids, comprising only 1-2% of the total
oil volume. Although these fractions kill fish at very low con-
centrations, the most noxious aromatics evaporate quickly and
naphthenic acids are very soluble in water, so quickly diffuse to
harmless concentrations. Horn et al, (1970), however, found that
low-boiling fractions are retained in petroleum lumps floating at
the mid-Atlantic sea surface. Holcomb (1969) observed that "When
a spill occurs at sea, a large portion of both (aromatic hydrocar-
bons benzene, toluene, xylene and low-boiling saturated
hydrocarbons) ... evaporates before reaching shore. This is
probably the main reason that the Santa Barbara Blowout was not
more disastrous to shore life other than birds." The dispersants
and emulsifiers, on the other hand, poison fish and invertebrates
(Nelson-Smith, 1967). They usually contain the same solvents com-
prising the more lethal fractions of crude oil, as well as deter-
gents, which at very low concentrations kill fish. Emulsified oil,
moreover, clings to the surfaces of fish gills and gut, which repel
untreated oil. These oil particles enter various filter feeders,
in turn eaten by larger animals. Nelson-Smith concluded of the
TORREY CANYON disaster, "...the lavish application of emulsifiers
without adequate agitation and often several hours in advance of
any means of dilution or washing with water was not only ineffective
in removing the stranded oil but also contributed considerably to
mortalities amongst animals and plants..." Jones (196*1) observed
that volatile tar and gas wastes in low concentrations first induce
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intoxication in fishes. Finally, after losing their equilibrium,
fish turn over and die or are narcotized. Unfortunately the fish
usually does not avoid the toxic area, but on the contrary, is often
attracted to it, especially if the pollutant is preserved as an
emulsion. Judging from past experience, therefore, the indiscrim-
inate use of dispersants does more harm than good (e.g., Manwell
and Baker, 196?).
Previous oil spills causing immediate widespread fish kills either
were of preliminarily refined oil containing the noxious fractions
in relatively high concentrations or were treated with noxious
dispersants. The 117,000 tons of crude oil from the TORREY
CANYON were widely treated at sea and shore with various deter-
gents, sinking the oil to accumulate on the bottom. Fish that
appeared initially healthy weakened and died later on. The sub-
littoral habitat suffered severe decimation. Dying and dead
crabs, lobsters, and shellfish littered the bottom. Smaller in-
shore fishes died by the thousands, while many of the larger
species apparently fled the polluted area (Spooner, 1967). Diving
observations substantiated the large-scale destruction along the
Plymouth Coast (Potts, et al., 1967). Benthic crabs, starfish,
shell-fish, shrimps, and fishes appeared moribund or dead as far
as a quarter mile from shore in about seven fathoms. Large kelp
beds of Laminaria, however, often protected animal communities
under their canopies. O'Sullivan and Richardson (1967) described
the almost complete devastation of the intertidal zone, where
nearly all invertebrates except some sea anemones died and where
multitudes of dead fish were washed ashore.
North et al. (196^) described the biotic decimation by oil spill
of a small rocky cove on the Pacific coast of northern Baja
California, Mexico. Wreckage of the tanker S/S TAMPICO MARU,
which ran aground in March of 1957, released 59>000 barrels of
dark diesel oil. Except for intertidal sea anemones, almost the
entire flora and fauna succumbed to the spill, although by June
the more mobile animal species had re-entered the cove in small
numbers. By 19o^-, a stable biota had repopulated the cove; the
initial elimination of grazers allowed the profusion of giant
kelp and other plants to become more luxuriant than the surrounding
flora. They noted that the initial kill was probably intensi-
fied by emulsification of the oil in the heavy surf.
Other, more recent spills further indicate that some crude oils
spare subtidal organisms, as long as their spread is checked by
means other than widespread chemical dispersion. The Louisiana
Oil Spill of March 20, 1969 in the Gulf of Mexico was blown away
from the shore and reportedly constituted little danger to marine
life, because the crude oil quickly became tar (Smithsonian
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Institution Center for Short-lived Phenomena, 1969). The
Wisconsin spill of fuel oil into the Mississippi River on June
195 however, killed thousands of fish, which floated to the
surface with oil-coated gills (ibid., 1969). Also, a spill of
diesel fuel off West Falmouth, Massachusetts on September 18
killed at least 2k species of fishes, including the young of
several game fishes, in tidal creeks and shallow bays (ibid.,
1969). Even in West Falmouth Harbor, where the oil could be
neither seen nor smelled, fish and invertebrates died by the
thousands. On the other hand, Foster et al. (1969) concluded
that, except for certain sea grasses, the intertidal biota of
Santa Barbara survived the crude oil spill surprisingly well.
Because detergents were generally banned the sand protected
some burrowing species, and the giant kelp canopies offshore
restricted onshore oil movements. In fact, the restriction of
rocky habitats by layers of tar, which is also attributable to
natural seeps west of Santa Barbara, may have caused most of
the damage.
But, Mr. Harold Bernard (personal communication) pointed out
that both crudes and refined products vary so widely in their
composition that it is impossible to generalize their relative
effects on marine life. The composition of the Santa Barbara
crudes was not analyzed. Dr. Max Blumer, an authority on marine
oil pollution, presumed that the crude oil drifting ashore had
actually lost little of its acute toxicity and probably none
of its long-term toxicity (News Press, U-30-71). He believes
that many of the more stable and heavier fractions are toxic to
marine organisms and may have a cumulative effect over a long
period of time. Such tarry constituents persist in the bottom
sediments and may be concentrated in the food chain. He has
also suggested that these constituents may interfere with the
chemical communication sense of bottom organisms.
From the foregoing it seems that the Santa Barbara spill did
not immediately and extensively decimate the shallow and deep
plankton and fish communities of the Channel. Then, will future
cumulative damage to local subtidal ecosystems be detectable?
Will covert and chronic interactions of oil with the complex
ecosystems ultimately degrade some or all of the important off-
shore and nearshore animal communities? Such questions, of
course, remain unanswerable in the present short-term study.
But, are any of the few minor anomalies observed in the present
study related to the oil spill or to natural seasonal cycles and
oceanographic trends?
North (1963) recognized the difficulty in distinguishing possible
artificial pollution effects from natural changes in the complex
ecosystems of the California rocky sublittoral zone and beds of
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giant kelp. After studying cycles of ecological succession, he
concluded that storms, grazers, turbidity, and high temperatures
destroy kelp and alter the associated animal communities, so that
the disappearance over the last 20 years of the extensive kelp
beds near Los Angeles and San Diego may be due to complex causes;
e.g., overgrazing by sea urchins, waste pollution, rising tempera-
tures, or even interactions of all these.
Complex and subtle alterations of marine ecosystems should be care-
fully assessed relative to natural as well as artificial causes.
Inspired by Manwell and Baker's (196?) discussion of possible eco-
logical change wrought by oil and detergent pollution, we assumed
the following criteria of biological damage, realizing full well
that any or all could occur naturally.
1. Decreased species evenness of abundance, then diversity:
sensitive species may be decimated quickly, so that commun-
ities will eventually comprise fewer species in more dis-
proportionate numbers (e.g. Patrick, 1970).
2. Initially decreased abundance as measured by catch
rates and volumes: many species may be initially depleted
and the relatively short period between the Santa Barbara
blowout and the present study may have been insufficient
for repopulation. (Chronic pollution may allow an ultimate
net increase in biomass as the resistant species multiply
at the expense of decreasing community diversity--Manwell
and Baker, 196?; Margalef, 1968.)
3. Consequently, the specialized species most narrowly
adapted to unpolluted natural environments may differen-
tially decrease in abundance.
k. And, sensitive types, like fish larvae that have just
lost their yolk sacs, may disappear first.
5. All this should effect a noticeable change in community
composition measured by, e.g., numerical hierarchies of the
member species. Certain individuals may appear unhealthy as
their species dwindles in number.
6. Correlations of measures of oil pollution with certain
community variables may warn of impending damage.
7. Many species and measures of biomass will assume more
"patchy" distributions because of environmental disruption.
8. Oil may contaminate bottom fishes trawled from the Channel.
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Certain fractions may be more toxic than others. Dr. Max
Blumer suggested that high-boiling, saturated hydrocarbons
interfere with chemical communication among animals. Oil,
therefore, may alter the behavior of large numbers of
commercial species (Holcomb, 1969). (We did not analyze
the oil or investigate contamination in the present study,
although the stomach contents of many trawled fishes appeared
normal and were uncontaminated by oil. Also, as far as
we could tell, all fishes were distributed in their usual
patterns.)
9. Oceanographic anomalies and other natural perturbances
of the ecosystem may cause changes resembling pollution
damage. Climatic trends should be considered in rational-
izing observed faunal changes.
In the present study, we investigated possible alterations of off-
shore macroplankton communities and of nearshore shallow-bottom
fish communities near kelp beds by comparing "oiled" collections
trawled after the blowout with "not oiled" collections trawled
concurrently in unpolluted areas or during the same seasons in
previous years. Our sampling universe, of course, included only
those animals that could be caught in our small trawls. It neces-
sarily excluded large and active species. Because we investigated
the interactions of many species and other environmental variables,
we used multivariate statistical techniques to compose "factors"
defining communities and other environmental systems. We have
tried to detect changes in these communities and systems and to
determine their cause.
13
-------
SECTION IV
OFFSHORE MACROPLANKTON COMMUNITIES
The nearshore Santa Barbara Channel and Santa Cruz Basin seaward
of the Channel Islands are two of a series of 13 deep basins that
pit the relatively narrow continental shelf off southern Cali-
fornia and Mexico (Emery, 1960). Because intrusions of vast
water masses from the north, south, and west, as well as local
heating and runoff, influence their oceanography, these basins
support a heterogenous fauna with northern, southern, western, and
endemic components (e.g., Lavenberg and Ebeling, 196?; Ebeling
et al., 1970a). Any changes in community structure, therefore,
may follow oceanographic trends. During the spring and early
summer, water masses may change abruptly as the offshore Cali-
fornia Current intensifies and disrupts a counterclockwise gyre
of warmer water that dominates local conditions off southern
California during late summer and fall (Brown, 1969).
Ebeling et al. (I970b) described midwater communities of macro-
plankton in the basins. Some are more characteristic of the
Santa Barbara Channel, some of the Santa Cruz Basin. Relatively
shallow planktonic groups containing transparent or silvery species
occupy the lighted zones in both basins. One contains several
fish larvae, abundant during the spring and summer.
Methods
From February 2? through March 1, 19&9} the General Motors
Research Vessel SWAN made 10 midwater trawl hauls that produced
3^- collections from discrete depth intervals at stations in the
Santa Barbara Channel and Santa Cruz Basin (Fig. l). All samples
were taken in a 6-foot Isaacs-Kidd midwater trawl equipped with
an electronically closing ^-chambered cod-end sampler (Aron et al.,
196U). The trawl's spreader bar contained electronic sensing
units that recorded depth of trawl and ambient temperature. A
flow-meter mounted on the spreader bar measured trawling effort
as expressed by water flow through the trawl mouth. The gates
of the chambered sampler were closed one at a time from shipboard.
Each collection optimally provided two discrete and two oblique
samples, which were sorted to fishes and invertebrates whose
respective displacement volumes were measured. Each subsample
was preserved separately in 10$, formalin and later washed, trans-
ferred to h5% isopropanol, sorted, identified to species, and
counted. An environmental data sheet, completed during the trawl,
accompanied each collection.
15
-------
.EdgecMf Pt.
Los Ang«let
FIGURE 1. SAMPLING LOCALITIES IN THE SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL AND
VICINITY
Two offshore localities provided macroplankton collections from
the Santa Barbara Channel (SBC on inset) and Santa Cruz Basin (SCB).
Nearshore localities provided bottom fish and invertebrate col-
lections from a relatively deep sandy-mud habitat (SB I, with arrow
in direction of trawl haul), a sandy habitat (SB II) near the outer
margin of kelp beds (leaf-like figures), and a relatively shallow
sandy habitat littered with detached seaweed near the harbor (SB III)
Other bottom collections were trawled in similar but "not oiled"
localities off Zuma Beach and Paradise Cove (ZPC I-III on inset).
Three "oiled" collections x^ere trawled slightly west of the others
(G I,II on inset). Pre-M.owout collections were trawled slightly
east of the others (1967) or off the Harbor. _J)epth contours in feet.
16
-------
Corresponding with the generally accepted ecological depth
zonation off southern California (Ebeling et al., 1970a), sampled
depths were designated as shallow (0-150 meters), upper middepth
(200-300 m), lower middepth (300-500 m), and deep (below 550 m
in the Santa Cruz Basin only). Only shallow and middepth trawls
could be made in the inshore Santa Barbara Channel, whose maximum
depth of about 600 m precludes the deep zone. Samples were taken
both day and night. All physical and biological data were punched
on computer data cards for later transcriptions and analyses.
Characteristics of the present collections were compared with
those of others made during February and March 1965, 1967, and
1968 (Brown, 1969; Ebeling et al., 19?0b). All captures or
volumes were standardized as number of individuals or milliliters
per "kilometer flow," a measure of trawling effort derived from
the revolutions registered by the trawl's flow meter. On board
the ship, each 1000 revolutions was registered as a tick on the
time-depth recording for each trawl. The meter was so calibrated
that the number of ticks (e.g., between closure of the two gates)
multiplied by .155 approximated the absolute number of linear
kilometers sampled by the trawl (Brown, 1969). Total effort as
kilometers flow in the Santa Barbara Channel was 80.56 for
February - March 1965, 25.83 for 196?, 27.19 for 1968, and 58.69
for the present study; in the Santa Cruz Basin, total kilometer
flow was 29.58, 156..09, 28.1+9, and 55.69, respectively. Possible
yearly changes in the observed communities were measured as:
(l) species diversity, expressed either as the average number
of species per kilometer flow (S) or as diversity per individual
(H'), which takes into account the distribution of individuals
among species as well as total species (Lloyd et al., 1968) and
was computed as
H' = - P ln
where p. = proportion of individuals belonging to the i species,
and In p. = its natural logarithm; (2) species evenness (E),
which measures the distribution of numbers of individuals among
species, was computed as H'/In S, and reaches a maximum of unity
when all species are represented by equal numbers of individuals
(cf. Buzas and Gibson, 1969); (3) abundance, expressed as the
average number of individuals taken per kilometer flow and as the
average displacement volume; (U) composition, expressed as the
abundance rankings of all species listed by community or ecological
group; and (5) distributional patchiness of species or plankton
volumes, expressed as an index, 1+1/k, where k is the negative
binomial parameter, so that the index increases with skewness
17
-------
(indicating patchiness) of the distributions of observations among
samples (Lloyd, 196?). All statistics were computed at UCSB using
the IBM 360-70.
Standard oceanographic observations were made insofar as they might
account for any biological anomalies. A bathythermograph measured
temperature from the surface to about 200 m at each trawl. Two
hydrographic casts, one each from the Santa Barbara Channel and
Santa Cruz Basin, provided series of ten water samples each for
measurements of temperature, salinity, and oxygen at different
depths. Curves of temperature vs. salinity and oxygen vs. depth
identified the water masses during the study period. Standard
observations supplemented each trawl: date and time, position,
sea state, swell height, phase of moon, and surface temperature.
Results
Species diversities in both the severely "oiled"Santa Barbara
Channel and the slightly "oiled" Santa Cruz Basin did not differ
significantly between the pooled series of February-March periods
before (1965-68) and after (1969) the blowout (Table l). The
average diversity of fish per kilometer flow from the Channel was
slightly higher in 1969 (.88) than in previous years (,6l). Species
evenness was virtually unchanged after the blowout. Captures of
invertebrates, which were more diverse than fishes but less evenly
distributed in individuals per species, varied as did the fishes:
the captures made after the blowout were slightly more diverse in
the Channel and slightly less so in the Basin, although both
differences were non-significant, (in general, the fauna of the
relatively deep Basin is more diverse than that of the shallower
Channel because it is more directly associated with typical
oceanic habitatsBrown, 1969.)
Abundances after the blowout generally resembled those before and
indicated no gross changes in standing crop. After the spill the
macroplankton standing crop, as measured by average volumes per
kilometer flow, was significantly higher for invertebrates but
about the same for fishes (Table l). This was also reflected in
the capture rates of individuals.
Since diversity, evenness, and abundance showed no gross changes
in 1969 after the blowout, we investigated the composition of
communities and other ecological groups, which vary between the
two basins and among depth zones. All fish and invertebrate species
were ranked in order of abundance, regardless of community or
group. Differences in relative abundance were then compared within
communities or groups, either between basins or among years
18
-------
Table 1
Analysis of macroplankton trawled from the Santa Barbara Channel and Santa Cruz
Basin in February-March of years before and during the oil spill. Species
diversity (H1) and evenness (E) are defined in the text. All statistics are
averaged over all samples per kilometer flow per year group. 95% confidence
limits of statistics for collection numbers greater than 20 are about -25% of
the listed values.
0) Jt
H O
O iH
0)
-------
Table 2
Relative abundance of macroplankton species, ranked by year for the Santa Barbara Channel (SB) and Santa Cruz
Basin (SC) and listed by community or ecological group. Species are classified as: A, amphlpod shrimps; C,
arrowworms; Ct, ctenophores; D, decapod shrimps; E, euphauslid shrimps; F, fish; M, medusae; S, siphonophores;
and Sa, salps. Under each community or group, species are ranked within each category (basin, fish, Invertebcate,
year) by their catch rates (ranks 1-5, highest-lowest for fish; 1-10 for invertebrates). If a species did
not enter the rankings in a particular category, it was assigned rank 6 (fish) or 11 (Invertebrates). Ranks
are averaged by species, basin, and year.
Selected Representatives of Prevailing Communities Comprising the Bulk of the Captures
Inshore Middepth Community (150-500 m)
Year
19&5
1967
1968
1969
Mean
rank
F. Leuroglossus i F. Stenobrachius
nidi
k SB
1
2
2
1.8
Jus
SC
1
5
3
5
3.5
leucopsarus
SB
2
1
1
J..2
SC
'2 ""
6
2
3
3.3
D. Pasiphaea
paciTTca
SB
6
11
9
11
9.3
SC
11
11
11
D. Pasiphaea
emareinata
SB | SC
7 -f 5
5 11
3 1 U
li.o ' 5.0 ' 9.0
M. Aegina. sp. ' Mean
SB
r 9
7
3
11
7.5
SC SB
11 ! 5.2
11 k.O
11 5.6
11.0 - 5.0
rank
sis
7.2
8.2
8.0
Shallow Invertebrate Community (0-300 m)
Year
1965
1967
1968
1969
E. Euphausia j S. "pointed
paci£i_ca ! siphonophores"
SB I SC 1 SB
1 ! 1
2 1 3
1 ' 11
1 1
2
1
2
2
Mean
rank 1.25 It.O ' 1.75
SC
2
2
1
2
E. Nematocilis 1 D. Serge
difficiUs ! " sTEr
SB
3
11
7
,_ 8 .
1.75 ' 7.3
sc' ; SB
It '4
6 ' 3
It It
7 k
5.25 3.8
stes , Ct. E
rs _|_ 5
3 i 5
11 i 11
6 6
11 5
7.75 6
uplokamis
alifornie'ns^s Mean rank
SC SB SC
7 , 3.0 i 3.k
! 11 5.0 6.6
. 11 k.o ' 6.6
5 k.O ! 5.2
.8 6.5 4.0 5.5
Year
1965
1967
1968
1969'
Mean
rank
F. Triphoturus
nexi canus
SB 1 SC
6 j 3
6 1
u ! 1:
. i ^.
5.5 3.0
F. Cyclothone
SB SC
3
3
3'
3
6
2
M. Atolla | D. Qennadas 1 Mean
wyvillei i propinauus 1 rank
SB
11
11
11
11
3.0 3.75 11.0
SC 1 SB
10' 11
9 11
2 11
11 j 11
8.0 ' 11.0
SC | SB
11 7.7
10 ! 7.7
11 1 7.7
11 i 7.3
10.75 ! 7.6
SC
7.0
5.6
5.C
6.5
' F. Cyclothone
Year
1965
1967
1968
1969
Mean
rank
nrr] Iril1*""*
SB
6
6
It
6
5.5
sc
5
2
1
1
2.25
~ D.~H^menodara
frontal is
SB
11
11
11
11
11.0
SC
B
5
3
4.8
M. Crossota
r^^br""""*
SB
9
11
11
11
SC
11
11
11
11
i
Mean
SB
8.7
9-3
8.7
9.3
10.5 ; ll.o 9.0
rank
SC
8.0
6.0
5.0
5.0
6.0
Selected Representatives of Relatively Shallow-Living Planktonic Groups
Arrowworm-Salp Group (0-300 m)
Year
1965
1967
1968
1969
Mean
rank
Sa. Salpa
fusiformis
SB
11
It
11
11
9.3
SC
11
1
11
6
7.25
F.
3.0 3.75
C. arrow-worms '
(Chaetognatha) I Mean rank
'SC ! ~SB SC
~nr- o:B-.7
; 7 : 5.0 3.7
10 I 5 8.0 7.3
9 I 4 7.7. U.0_
5.9
Year
1967
1968
1562
Mean
rank
crassipes
11
11
11
11.0
SC i
9
11
10
11
10.0
mordax
SB
6
6
6
5
5.8
SC
6
6
6
6.0
Larvae Group
F. pterluccius
productus
SB
1
6
6
6
5.5
SC
6
6
6
6.0
(0-300 m)
F. Sebastodes
sp.
SB
6
6
5.8
SC
6
6
6
6.0
analoga
SB
B
10
8
6
8.0
SC
b
k
7
, 8
6.;
f. Bl'epha
occide
(crab
SB
11
11
11
10
10.7
ropoda \
ntalin
larval
sc -
11
11
11
:,.o
to*° rttk
SB __j
8)2
8.0
7.3
7.7
SC
7.3
7.3
7.7
R.o
7.6
Selected Repret
Year
1965
1967
1968
1969
Mean
rank
entatlvea of the Offuhore Fish Group (0-550 m)
A. Vibilia, sp
SB
11
11
11
11
11.0
sc "
11
6
11
9
9.8
F. Diaphus
theta
SB
6
It
6
6
5.5
20
SC
6
It
6
6
5.5
F. Lampai
ivctus
ritteri
SB
6
6
6
6
6.0
6
6
5
6
5.75
Ms an
rank
SB
7.7
7.0
7.7
7.7
7.5
SC
7.7
6.0
7.3
7.7
7.2
-------
emarginata was one of the larger and more abundant middepth
invertebrates. For the Channel, member species ranked slightly
lower in 19&9 (5.6) than in previous years (U.0-5.2) because the
shrimp Pasiphaea pacifica and jellyfish Aegina were relatively
scarce then (see also Table 6). Santa Cruz Basin representatives,
especially Pasiphaea emarginata, were slightly less abundant after
the blowout (8.0) than in previous years (6.0-8.8). However,
relative overall "success" of the community as measured by the
sum of ranks of its member species did not differ significantly
among years in either basin (Table 3).
Table 3
Among-year differences in composition of three ecological groups
of macroplankton in the Santa Barbara Channel (SB) and Santa Cruz
Basin (SC). From Table 2, differences between observed and ex-
pected abundance rank sums for representative species are summed
as chi-square with 2 degrees of freedom. Non-significance (NS)
was determined at the P=.05 level. The observed ("Obs.") rank sum
for 1965 Channel captures of common Middepth Community members,
for example, equals the rank sum in the "SB" columns of Table 2,
across the row for 1965; i.e., l+2+6+7+9=25. The expected sum
("Exp.") was calculated from ranks pooled for all years.
Middepth Communities
1965
1967
1968
1969
25
26
20
29
23
23
23
23
.17
.39
.39
1.56
Year Obs. Exp. Chi-square
SB
JL^DO £U £.$
1969 29 23
(NS) 2.51
1965 30 Ul
1967 UU la
1968 36 la
1969 ia *a
(NS)
21
-------
Shallow Invertebrate Community
SB
SC
Year
1965
1967
1968
1969
1965
1967
1968
1969
Obs.
15
28
20
20
17
33
33
26
Exp.
17
17
17
17
26
26
26
26
Chi- square
.24
7.12
.53
.53
(P=.02) O2
3.12
1.88
1.88
0
(p=.03) O8~
Arrowworm-Salp Group
Year
1965
1967
1968
1969
Obs.
25
15
24
23
Exp.
26
26
26
26
Chi- square
.04
4.6?
.15
.35
(NS) 5.21
SB
1965 26 16 6.25
SC 1967 12 16 1.00
1968 22 16 2.24
1969 12 16 1.00
(P=.005) 10159
The Shallow Invertebrate Community abounds in and above the mid-
depths of both basins and contains common forage animals like
the small euphausiid shrimp Euphausia pacifica and decapod shrimp
Sergestes similis (Ebeling et al., 1970b).(Tiny copepods, which
are even more abundant, generally pass through the trawl mesh and
so were excluded from this analysis.) In 1969 the mean ranks of
community members in Channel and Basin (Table 2: 4.0, 5.2)
resembled those of previous years (3.0-5.0, 3.4-6.6). Overall
community "success11 differed significantly among years in the
Channel because members were unusually abundant in 1967 (Table 3).
Most members of the Offshore Middepth and Deep communities are
poorly represented in Channel collections (Brown, 1969; Ebeling
et al., 1970b). They are more common in deep oceanic waters and
so were poor indicators of possible oil damage. Offshore deep
22
-------
species occurred in about the same relative abundance in 19&9 as
in previous years (Table 2). Surprisingly in 1969, the Offshore
Middepth Community appeared to be equally successful in the Channel
and Basin: the offshore lanternfish Triphoturus mexicanus was
trawled in unusually large numbers in the Channel (Table 6), while
the jellyfish Atolla wyvillei was relatively scarce in the Basin.
The relatively shallow-living planktonic groups vary with season
and are usually well-represented in the Santa Cruz Basin (Ebeling
et al., 1970ab). However, the Larvae Group was more "successful"
in the Channel in 1969 after the blowout (Tables h, 5, 6). The
Arrowworm-Salp group rank sum did not differ significantly from
expected in either area (Table 3, chi-square 1969, 1 d.f.).
Distributional patchiness of common species varied little or
inconsistently before and after the blowout (Table U). In the
Santa Barbara Channel, patchiness indices for ten species did not
change appreciably, five decreased, and only one increased. Catch
rates were generally greater: ten increased, seven were about
the same, and only six decreased. Patchiness of Inshore Middepth
Community members generally decreased, while as many catch rates
increased as decreased. Patchiness of standing crops was about
the same. In the Santa Cruz Basin, indices for seven species did
not change appreciably, seven decreased, and two increased. Catch
rates were generally less: 18 decreased and only five were about
the same or less. But the average volume of an individual fish
was significantly larger (Table l). Patchiness of fish standing
crop was about the same (Table U). Pre-blowout invertebrate
patchiness reflected the large influx of salps in 1967.
Table k
Average catch rates and patchiness indices of species representing
macroplankton groups and of plankton volumes in the Santa Barbara
Channel (SB) and Santa Cruz Basin (SC) for late February and early
March before and after the oil blowout. Letters classify the species
as in Table 2.
F.
CO
0)
H
O
0)
P<
W
Leuroglossus
stilbius
Locality
SB
T3
0
H
5-i
0)
fit
1965-68
1969
£<
V QJ
33
0 h
U.9
1.7
Patchiness
index
5.55
2.2U
23
-------
Inshore
Middepth
Commun.
Shallow
Invert.
Commun.
F. Stenobrachius
leucopsarus
D. Pasiphaea
emarginata
D. Pasiphaea
pacifica
M. Aegina, sp.
A. Paracallisoma
coesus
A. Hyperia galba
E. Euphausia
pacifica
E. Nematocilis
difficilis
D. Sergestes
similis
Ct. Euplokamis
calif orniensis
S. "pointed
s iphonophore s "
SC
SB
SC
SB
SC
SB
SC
SB
SC
SB
SC
SB
SC
SB
SC
SB
SC
SB
SC
SB
SC
SB
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1.7
.31
6.9
7.8
1.3
1.1
2.2
15.8
.35
.09
1.3
.48
.05
0
1.9
.66
.05
0
.08
.55
.04
.04
.73
.58
.03
0
37.1
20.3
8.4
25. 4
2.6
2.8
4.2
.75
3.5
3.9
1.3
.14
2.3
3-5
.43
1.2
12.4
16.4
3.69
.64
2.97
1.75
2.90
1.48
2.46
3.41
2.49
3.57
1.94
5.48
4.82
4.15
3.64
*
4.31
2.68
* *
7.02
6.17
4.6l
3.65
5.42
5.70
2.87
5.12
2.52
2.69
6.00
.95
3.82
3.09
8.70
4.68
3.04
3.47
24
-------
Offshore
Middepth
Conunun.
Offshore
Deep
Commun.
Arrowworm-
Salp
Group
Larvae
Group
( excluding
fish)
F. Cyclothone
signata
M. Atolla
wyvillei
M. Colobonema
sericeum
C. Gennadas
propinquus
F. Cyclothone
acclinidens
D. Hymenodora
frontalis
M. Crossota
rttfobrunnea
F. Cyclothone
signata
Sa. Salpa
fusiformis
D. Emerita
analoga (larvae)
D. Blepharipoda
occidental is
SC
SB
SC
SB
SC
SB
SC
SB
SC
SB
SC
SB
SC
SB
SC
SB
SC
SB
SC
SB
SC
SB
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
14.9
6.1
.61
1.3
1.1
1.0
0
0
2.2
.23
.14
.09
.11
.14
.02
.02
1.2
0
.07
.07
2.1
2.9
0
.02
4.1
2.9
.19
0
.23
.04
.61
1.3
1.1
1.0
1.0
0
36.4
1.0
1.0
3.4
4ol
.63
.03
.78
2.55
2.12
2.33
2.84
2.20
1.86
*
*
4.39
1.38
* *
*
1.17
* o
3.13
1.69
3.05
1.50
4.45
2.33
2.84
2.20
1.86
25.9
» *
18.22
11,78
3.55
4.14
4.77
6.14
5.55
(larvae)
25
-------
A. Paraphronima
crassipes
_, . ,
Fish
volumes
Invertebrate
volumes
.sc
SB
SC
SB
SC
SB
SC
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-b«
1969
1965-68
1969
1965-bb
1969
1965-68
1969
.07
0
.19
.20
.55
.lU
30.6 ml
33.5 ml
15.1 ml
18.2 ml
50.3 ml
72.1 ml
253.3 ml*
^0.0 ml
* *
2.96
.82
1.72
.9^
2.07
1.51
2.52
1.U2
1.68
2.01
32.32
2.58
^Including abnormally large salp collections in 1967.
Larval fish were significantly more abundant after the blowout than
in 1968 (Table 5). Catch rates for 6 of 11 species increased in
the Channel. The 1969 abundance was significantly greater than
that of 1968, but not those of 1965 and 1967 ("U" test, Table 5).
In the Basin, the 1967 abundance was significantly greater than
those of 1965 and 1968, but not that of 1969.
In the Channel, the relative abundances of invertebrates, fish
larvae, and other common fishes showed no major changes after the
blowout (Table 6). Pre-blowout abundance rankings of invertebrates
were significantly correlated with post-blowout rankings (tau test,
Table 6). Although fish ranks were not significantly correlated,
they showed some similarities. The deep-sea smelt Leuroglossus
stilbius ranked highest among the fish larvae, while three species
led all fishes for the two periods. Larval rockfishes (Sebastodes
sp.) and anchovies (Engraulis mordax) were relatively abundant in
1969. The lantemfish Triphoturus mexicanus, large midwater
shrimp Pasiphaea emarginata, and larval sandcrab Emerita analoga
were also unusually high in the 1969 rankings.
Fresh caught animals that were not seriously injured appeared as
lively as ever. After each trawl was retrieved, the contents of
the cod-end chambers were immediately washed into buckets of cold
seawater and observed in the ship's laboratory. Most of the
26
-------
Table 5
Abundances and catch rates of larval fishes trawled in the basins during February-
March of years before and after the blowout. Species include some that are surface
pelagic as adults and whose larvae live above 100 m: anchovy Engraulis mordax,
Spanish mackerel Trachurus symmetricus, sardine Sardinops caerulea; upper middepth
both as adults and larvae: hake Merluccius productus; typical deep-sea fish of
upper and lower middepths (100-550 m) as adults, shallower depths as larvae:
Leuroglossus stilbius; deep and shallow benthic species whose larvae usually in-
habit the upper middepths: channel rockfishes Sebastolobus altivelis and £.
alascanus; sanddabs and flounders Citharichthys stigmaeus, C_. sordidus, and
Microstomus pacificus, combfish Zaniolepis sp.; and benthic species of moderate
to shallow depths whose larvae occur near the surface: rockfishes Sebastodes sp.,
cabazon Scorpaenichthys marmoratus. In each column by year, the first entry is the
total individuals captured, the second is the catch per kilometer flow. Using the
Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney "U" statistic at the P-.05 level (Sokal and Rohlf, 1969),
the 1969 Channel larval abundance was significantly greater than that of 1968, but
not those of 1965 and 1967; the 1967 Basin abundance was significantly greater
than those of 1965 and 1968, but not that of 1969.
Engraulis mordax
Merluccius productus
Leuroglossus stilbius
Sebastolobus altivelis
S. alascanus
Sebastodes spp.
Scorpaenichthys marmoratus
Zaniqlep_is sp .
Citharichthys stigmaeus
C . sordidus
Microstomus pacif icus
3
lU
8
0
0
1
0
2
2
0
1
7^>J
.037
.nk
.099
.012
.025
.025
.012
2
1
19
0
1
3
0
0
1
0
1
7^1
.077
.039
.730
.039
.116
*
!c>39
.039
0
2
0
0
1
0
1
0
0
1
.037
.073
.037
.037
.037
6
27
U9
0
0
ko
2
1
k
1
1
.102
.1*60
.83^
'.680
.03U
.017
.068
.017
.017
Santa Cruz Basin:
3ncraulis mordax 0
Herluccius productus 0
lossus stilbius 0
Leurp£
Sebastolpbus_ altivelis 0
S. al_as_canus_ 0
Sebastodes spp. 0
S. r.arnpratus 0
Citharichthys stiftnaeus 1
C. spriidus 0
Mi_croj;tomus pacif icus 0
.03U
k
k
1
1
7
1
8
0
1
.051 :
.026 I
.025 !
.006 ;
.006
.01*5
.006 !
.051
.006
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
.070
2
1
0
1
0
1
0
0
.072
.035
.018
!oi8
!oie
animals remained active for hours. One surface plankton tow
through a fresh oil slick near the site of the blowout yielded
a good catch of tiny animals appearing lively and active.
Discussion
About one month after the blowout, macroplankton trawled from
the "oiled" Santa Barbara Channel and mostly "not oiled" Santa
27
-------
Table 6
Abundance ranks and catch rates of macroplankton trawled from the Channel during
February-March in years before and after the blowout. Ranks, before and after, of
larvae and other fishes were not significantly correlated; ranks of invertebrates
were correlated at the P-.01 level, using Kendall's tau rank correlation (Sokal
and Rohlf, 1969).
Pre-blowout collections (1965-68)
Species~"' ~Catch1-ate Species
Post-blowout collections (1969)
1. Leuroglossus jtilbius
2. Merluccius productus
3. Flatfish larvae (3 spp.)
k. Sebastod.es sp.
5. Engraulis mordax
Larval fishes
.22 1. L. stilbius
.12 2. Sgbastodes, sp.
.05 3. Merluecius productus
.Ch h. Engraulis mordax
.Ok 5. Flatfish larvae (3 spp.)
All fishes
1. Stenobraehius leucopsarus 6.9
2. Leuroglossus stilbius U.9
3. Cyclothone signata .61
k. Diaphus theta .ki.
5. Merluccius productus (larv.) .12
1. S. leucopsarus
2. L. stilbius
3. C. signata
k. Triphoturus mexicanus
5. Engraulis mordax (larvae)
1. Euphausia pacifica
2. "pointed siphonophores"
3. Sergestes similis
U. Hematocilis difficilis
5. Euplokamis californiensis
6. Pasiphaea emarginata
7. Aegina, sp.
'-'. Pasiphaea paeifica
9. Emerita analoga (larvae)
10. Salpa fusiformis
Invertebrates
37.1 1. E. pacifica
12.k 2. "pointed siphonophores"
3.5 3. Pasiphaea emarginata
2.6 k. Sergestes similus
2.3 5. E. californiensis
2.2 6. Emerita analoga (larvae)
1.9 7. Thjrsanoessa spinifera
1.3 8. Hematocilis difficilis
1.0 9. arrow worms
1.0
Catch rate
.83
.68
.U6
.10
.10
7.8
1.7
1.3
.29
.27
20.3
16.4
15.8
3.9
3.5
3.^
3.3
2.8
1.7
10. Blepharipoda (sand-crab 1.) .78
Cruz Basin showed no major changes in species diversity, evenness,
standing crop, or patchiness in the shallow, middepth, or deep
collections. In the Channel, diversity and abundance of inverte-
brates, larval fishes, and a few offshore fishes were significantly
higher in 1969 after the blowout. VJhile average fish size
28
-------
increased in the Basin catches, however, it decreased in the Channel.
Perhaps the severe storms drove many of the smaller surface forms
inshore.
We could detect a few notable changes in the composition of commu-
nities and ecological groups, as represented by their more common
species. Such changes, however, did not appear to be likely
effects of oil pollution. In the Channel, the large shrimp
Pasiphaea emarginata and offshore lanternfish Triphoturus mexicanus
were relatively abundant. The Shallow Invertebrate Community was
scarcely altered after the blowout, while the Larvae Group was
significantly more abundant in the Channel. Rockfish, anchovy,
and sandcrab larvae were more abundant in 1969 than in previous
years.
Perhaps these changes were caused by climatic anomalies character-
izing the first half of 1969. The worst part of the oil spill
coincided with a series of severe winter storms during the wettest
rainy season in recent years (Foster et al., 1969&). Considerable
fresh water flowed into the Channel, increasing turbidity and
decreasing surface salinity. We contrasted oceanographic trends
after the blowout with previous conditions to see if water-mass
anomalies could account for the observed changes in community
composition.
A counterclockwise gyre of water subject to local climatic effects
dominates the area of basins and islands off southern California
(Reid et al., 1958; Emery, I960; Brown, 1969). Here, during summer
and fall, warmer southern water replaces the cool California Current,
which is deflected offshore at Point Conception just above Santa
Barbara. In the spring, upwelling of nutrient-rich deep water
accompanies the shoreward movement of the intensifying California
Current. Consequently, three oceanographic periods influence
the Santa Barbara area: an upwelling period of surface enrich-
ment during May through July, a stratification period of surface
warming during August through December, and a mixing period of
surface cooling during January through April (Brown, 1969).
Kolpack (1971) showed that surface water of the Santa Barbara
Channel flows in a counter-clockwise cell in the western part
and converges with water entering the channel from the east
over a shallow sill. From this we infer that the Channel usually
has a more or less "contained" circulation in its deeper western
part, which may explain some of the peculiarities of its macro-
plankton communities and groups. Kolpack added that surface
nutrients were relatively high in May following the blowout. This
may have been caused by an accumulation of unusually heavy land
runoff, rather than by upwelling which was delayed by the in-
tense and prolonged mixing period of winter storms.
29
-------
These periods may influence the distribution of some macro-
plankton species belonging to "transitory groups" more than
they do others belonging to "resident communities" (Ebeling et
al., 1970b). Abundances of southerly species increase in late
summer and fall, while those of northerly species increase in
the winter and spring (Lavenberg and Ebeling, 19&7; Ebeling et
al., 1970a). During the mixing period, members of the Inshore
Middepth Community are usually abundant because they seem to
be specifically adapted to the prevailing local conditions
nearshore. On the other hand, some members of the Offshore
Middepth Community, such as the lanternfish Triphoturus mexicanus,
are usually scarce because they thrive during the stratification
period when the influence of the California Current is minimal.
In the present study, therefore, the relatively high Channel
abundance of certain fish larvae and Inshore Middepth shrimp
was not surprising for the period after the blowout. In general,
pelagic larvae become abundant during the early spring when tiny
zooplankton are also abundant (Ebeling et al., 1970a; cf. Isaacs
et al., 1969). Ahlstrom (l96l, 1966) observed that young rock-
fish and anchovy larvae are most abundant in plankton collections
made in late winter and early spring. After the blowout, some
larvae may have been carried into the Channel from the southeast
during storms, and then retained in the western gyre.
The first half of 1969 was oceanographically atypical. After the
blowout, the prolonged mixing period extended into May, when
surface water temperatures abruptly rose in the absence of the
usual spring upwelling (Flittner, 1969ab; U. S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, 1969b). The water masses in the Channel and Basin, as
identified by temperature-salinity and oxygen-depth curves,
differed from those of 1967 and 1968. In 1969, low surface
temperatures and salinities reflected the effects of the cold
winter storms (Figs. 2, 3). A slight salinity increase in deep
water suggested that southern water had recently entered the basins
at depth. This might account for the unusual seasonal occurrence
of Triphoturus mexicanus in the Channel.
The extraordinarily high measurements of deep oxygen concentration
were certainly unexpected (Figs, k, 5). Perhaps they are erroneous,
although their remarkable correspondence between channel and basin
indicates otherwise. Kolpack (1971) noted that oxygen profiles in
the Channel were "normal" in May, 1969, except for a decrease in
the upper 30 meters beneath an oil slick. If our oxygen measure-
ments are correct, the Channel environment is indeed, as Kolpack
suggested, "more dynamic than previously expected," Perhaps the
Channel and Basin waters above sill depth had become temporarily
oxygenated and partially flushed of stagnant water during the
30
-------
o
o
0)
3
O.
- 15
-10
- 5
Northei
'"> Woter
33.5
34.0
34.5
35.0
Salinity, %0
FIGURE 2. TEMPERATURE-SALINITY WATER-MASS CURVES FOR THE SANTA
BARBARA CHANNEL DURING FEBRUARY-MARCH OF YEARS PRIOR TO
AND AFTER THE BLOWOUT
Observed at 10 depths between the surface and 500 m during 1967
(dotted line), 1968 (dashed line), and 1969 (solid line), and
compared with standard curves for subarctic (northern) and equator-
ial (southern) waters.
31
-------
o
e
oT
9
|
O.
15
10
33.5
34.0
34.5
35.0
Salinity, %e
FIGURE 3.
TEMPERATURE-SALINITY WATER-MASS CURVES FOR THE SANTA
CRUZ BASIN DURING FEBRUARY-MARCH OF YEARS PRIOR TO
AND AFTER THE BLOWOUT
Observed at 10 depths between the surface and 1000 m during 1967
(dotted line), 1968 (dashed line), and 1969 (solid line), and
compared with standard curves for subarctic (northern) and equator-
ial (southern) waters.
32
-------
0 I
100
200
-C
^.
o
300
400
500
Oxygen, ml./l.
234
FIGURE 4. DISSOLVED OXYGEN BY DEPTH CURVES FOR THE SANTA
BARBARA CHANNEL DURING FEBRUARY-MARCH OF YEARS
PRIOR TO AND AFTER THE BLOWOUT
Observed at 10 depths during 1967 and 1968 (range indicated
by hatched band) and 1969 (solid curve).
33
-------
200
400
0)
*-
0)
o.
0)
0 600
800
Oxygen, ml./I.
234
1000
FIGURE 5.
DISSOLVED OXYGEN BY DEPTH FOR THE
SANTA CRUZ BASIN DURING FEBRUARY-
MARCH OF YEARS PRIOR TO AND AFTER
THE BLOWOUT
Observed at 10 depths during 1967 and 1968
(range indicated by hatched band) and 1969
(solid curve).
-------
intense winter mixing period, but had returned to "normal" by May.
In summary, climatic anomalies most likely account for the few
observed anomalies in macroplankton composition. Hie offshore
lantemfish may have entered the Channel with deep intrusions of
southern water, while pelagic larvae and a few Inshore Middepth
species expectedly flourished during the prolonged mixing period
following the blowout. Dr. Robert Holmes (personal communication)
observed unusually dense concentrations of phytoplankton after
the storms and consequent nutrient enrichment of the waters by
runoff from the land. The unusual bloom may have sustained large
numbers of tiny grazers, which in turn were eaten by the macro-
plankters.
35
-------
SECTION V
NEARSHORE BOTTOM FISH COMMUNITIES
Beds of giant kelp in the Channel provide cover and food for com-
plex animal communities containing several sport fishes. Resident
populations of most species remain active in and about the kelp
the year round. The kelp communities intergrade extensively with
the surrounding level bottom communities (Quast, 1968b). Therefore,
we trawled collections from bottom habitats near the kelp beds in
an area repeatedly invaded by oil slicks after the blowout.
The Channel climate influences the composition of the nearshore
bottom communities, which occupy a transitional zone between a
cold-water faunal region north of Point Conception and a warmer
region to the south (Hubbs, I960; Quast, 1968a; see also Section
TV). The Channel communities generally resemble others of the
warmer region, although they include several northern species
extending slightly below Point Conception. Their northern,
southern, and wide-ranging members may react differently to
climatic shifts and oceanographic anomalies. Migratory fishes
enter and leave the Channel as one oceanographic season follows
another. Therefore, seemingly minor anomalies may strongly affect
marginal populations of either northern cold-water specialists
or southern warm-water specialists, but not noticeably affect
many relatively temperature-tolerant generalists. Such natural
environmental effects should be considered in assessing possible
pollution damage to these communities.
We found surprisingly little unequivocal evidence of previous
pollution damage to nearshore bottom fishes of the open Californian
coast. Mr- David Valentine (personal communication) has observed
the widespread occurrence of morphological abnormalities in sand
bass living near sewage outfalls. Stapleton (1968) noted that
kelp bass from areas polluted by industrial wastes show consider-
able liver damage. Carlisle (1969) trawled many bottom fishes
from near areas of waste discharge off Los Angeles. Although
the sewage outfall itself attracted a few species, most fishes
avoided the heavily polluted areas. But he concluded that "it
was impossible to show that fluctuations in abundance, as measured
by trawl catches, were the result of large-scale waste discharge
in the study area, and not due to natural causes." Others have
found no gross changes in diversity and abundance of animal commu-
nities near, but not directly adjacent, various pollutant sources
off southern California (Turner et al., 1965, 1966, 1968; Turner
and Strachan, 1969). Carlisle et al. (196*0 after extensive
observations of animals populating various kinds of artifical
reefs, somewhat optimistically concluded that oil drilling platforms
37
-------
actually enhance fishing because, like natural reefs, they provide
shelter, food, and landmarks or orientation for kelp and reef
species.
We investigated changes in fish diversity, abundance, and community
composition between "oiled" and "not oiled" environments, in light
of natural environmental changes, environmental heterogeneity, and
sampling bias, as well as possible pollution effects of the blowout.
The more common species were classified into communities or groups
of species living together in the same general habitat. Our fish
communities, of course, reflect the limited sampling universe of
species that can be caught with a small otter trawl at the locali-
ties visited. Sampling difficulties arise because two or more
interacting communities may inhabit the same general area like
the transitional zone between kelp and level bottom. Fager and
Longhurst (1968) classified ecological groups of bottom fishes
trawled from various depths off west Africa. Like the present
communities, these groups were generally assorted by depth and sub-
strate type, but were broadly overlapping in space and time. That
is, members of such groups may migrate both bathymetrically and
geographically with seasonal or other temporal changes. Carlisle
(1969) noted that a common sanddab occurs in deeper water during
the winter off Los Angeles. Day and Pearcy (1968) described
bottom fish communities that merged among depths and substrate
types off Oregon. The shallowest contained species in two of the
present communities.
We did not chemically test for oil contamination. Oil was not
detected in the flesh or guts of a few bottom fishes trawled after
the blowout from about 110 fathoms inshore of Anacapa Island;
extracts of the fish muscle in acetic acid fluoresced no more
under varying wavelengths of ultraviolet light than extracts from
goldfish controls (Meek et al., 1969). Holcomb (1969), however,
reviewed evidence that bottom invertebrates concentrate the rela-
tively stable benzopyrenes, which are petroleum carcinogens with
high boiling points. Fish, in turn, may eat the contaminated
invertebrates.
Methods
From February 21 to August 7, 1969, 56 trawl hauls sampled the
shallow level bottom fauna around kelp beds off Santa Barbara and
an area unaffected by the oil spill to the south (Fig. l). Three
localities were sampled at least three times per month, using a
16-foot wide semi-balloon trawl retrieved by power capstan over a
portable A-frame, from a 17-foot Boston Whaler skiff. Locality I
was about one mile due south of Santa Barbara Lighthouse, west of
38
-------
the blowout, in about 180 (100-2^0) feet of water. Locality II
was farther inshore in about UO (30-^5) feet at the outer margin
of the kelp southwest of the lighthouse. Locality III, in about
15 (10-25) feet and often cluttered with seaweed drifting on the
bottom, was at the inner margin of the kelp just west of Santa
Barbara Harbor. The shallow sandy and occasionally rocky bottom
near the kelp merges with the sandy-mud bottom at greater depths.
Unlike kelp off Los Angelea and San Diego, which usually attaches
to rocky bottom there, kelp off Santa Barbara attaches to either
soft or rocky bottom in the protected Channel (North, 1963). Oil
slicks entered all three localities at one time or another. On
April 15 and July 17, six trawl hauls sampled similar localities
off Zuma Beach and Paradise Cove that were not polluted by the
blowout oil.
Trawling effort was standardized as much as possible. Deep
hauls at Locality I always trawled due north, shoaling toward
shore. Shallower hauls at localities II and III trawled along
the outer margin of the kelp bed or parallel to the shore. All
trawls were adjusted to 15 minutes fishing time on the bottom.
At Locality I, the trawl was set rapidly, so that the net would
assuredly reach bottom for a full 15 minutes sample, as indicated
by normal catches of the abundant sea cucumber Stichopus. En-
vironmental observations accompanied the collections: surface
water temperature, sea state, amount of overcast, Secchi disc
water transparency, bottom depth, time of day, and estimated
oil amount as surface slicks and tar. At Locality II, small
mysid shrimps of the kelp canopy were sampled in a measured
bucket dipped among the fronds, counted, and released.
All fish and invertebrates were volumetrically measured and
preserved, except for the bulky sea cucumbers which were counted
and released. The specimens were stored temporarily in large
plastic bags, iced, and brought to the laboratory, where they
were sorted, identified, and measured before preservation in
formalin. The general condition of the fish was noted as they
were sorted into size clases. All invertebrates were sorted into
taxonomic groups (e.g., crabs, shrimps, sea urchins); most were
identified to species. Liquid displacement volumes of total fish
and invertebrates (excluding the sea cucumbers) were recorded
before preservation.
For later tabulations and statistical treatment, species abun-
dances and size ranges were punched by collection number on one
set of computer data cards, environmental observations and other
biological measurements on another. "Remote" observations were
added insofar as they might meaningfully broaden the environ-
mental study: seasonal advance, expressed as days after the first
39
-------
trawl on February 21; phase of the moon; monthly mean surface
temperature off Santa Barbara, as compiled by the U. S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (I969b); offshore temperature, as measured by
infrared thermometer and compiled by the Tiburon Marine Laboratory,
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (I969b); nearshore surface salinity,
as measured at the Ventura Marina and provided by Mrs. Margaret
Robinson of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography; and catches
per angler of rockfish, bass, bonito + barracuda, and halibut, from
sport fishing boats leaving nearby Oxnard and Port Hueneme and
usually fishing the Channel near the islands. These catch rates,
compiled from daily records in the Los Angeles Times newspaper,
were used because data from the Santa Barbara sport fishery was
unavailable. Santa Barbara boats were inactive during periods
of the oil spill due to oiling of the harbor and various other
problems. (On two occasions during the spill, however, Ebeling
caught near-limits of rockfishes and lingcod from a Santa Barbara
boat fishing off Santa Rosa and San Miguel Islands.)
After first comparing abundances and diversities between all
1967 and 1969 catches, we compared seasonally and environmentally
matched collections by using chi-square expressions of observed vs.
expected numbers of species shared and not shared between 1967-1969
pairs (after Quast, 1968b). Six collections from Locality I, two
each from March, April, and May, 1969 were paired with six simi-
lar collections trawled in 1967 by Richard M. Ibara and Lawrence
T. Penny, using the same gear and method. Only three 1967
collections were available from Locality II. Locality III was
unrepresented. Along with five others which could not be ade-
quately paired, however, a total of lU collections from 1967
allowed detailed comparisons with the present 31 post-blowout
collections from Localities I and II. "Expected" terms in the
chi-square expressions took into account the commonness or rarity
of each fish species in calculating its probability of occurrence
in both members of a pair of collections (the square of its
probability of occurrence in either). The assumed probability
(p. ) of capture of at least one individual of a particular species
in a particular trawl collection, therefore, was its proportionate
frequency in all comparable collections made at either locality
during both years, i.e., its proportionate frequency among 22
collections from I (11 from each year) or among 12 collections
from II (nine from 1969 5 three from 1967). The expected number
of species shared by any 1967-1969 collection pair was, for each
locality:
S
i=l ; where
i = 1, 2, ...,S; S = the number of species recorded for either
locality, about ^0 from each; and p^ = the probability of joint
-------
occurrence of the i species, ranging from near zero for the
rarest species to about 0.8 for the commonest. Collection pairs
from deep Locality I expectedly shared about eight species, while
those from relatively shallow Locality II expectedly shared but
five. The expected number of not shared or "unique" species that
occur in but one member of a pair, was assumed to be the average
number of species per collection, minus the expected number shared.
In this way, collections were contrasted by pairs between years
and among months by shared and unique species for shallow and deep
localities (Tables 8, 9). We wanted to test for significant de-
parture from an expected joint collection composition determined
intrinsically by the obviously quite different probabilities of
catching rare and common species, rather than determined extrin-
sically by assuming equal probabilities for all species (as used
by Quast in a different kind of study). The chance of catching
a common species (assuming that it does not escape the trawl)
is much greater than catching a rare species. For the deep-
locality pairs, however, the expected number of shared species
based on unequal capture probabilities approximated those based
on equal probabilities; in the deep (but not the shallow) trawls,
the good chances of catching the common species balanced the poor
chances of catching the rare ones.
The 1969 collections were similarly compared with those trawled
from the "not oiled" area off Paradise Cove and Zuma Beach (PCZ).
Expected frequencies were heavily biased in favor of the Santa
Barbara collections because few PCZ collections were available.
"Communities" and other environmental systems were defined using
subgroups of intercorrelated variables within the group of 53
variables (sets of 56 observations each) measured. Variables
included: abundances of the 23 commonest fishes and seven common-
est invertebrates; 15 measures of the physical environment (sub-
strate, temperatures, oil, season, time, weather, phase of moon,
water transparency, salinity, etc.); and eight measures of the
biological environment (fish and invertebrate volumes, fish
diversity, abundance of surface mysid shrimps, catch rates of
sport fishes). All frequency distributions of species abundances
were strongly skewed to the right, indicating that the animals
occurred in patches. Species abundances, therefore, were trans-
formed by the function log (X+l) for computing a 53 by 53 matrix
of correlation coefficients.
Factor analysis was used to identify the subgroups of inter-
correlated variables. The factors (new, hypothetical variables)
were derived from the correlation matrix in a way that represented
the system of original variables as simply as possible; i.e., each
-------
factor was "positioned" so that it was strongly correlated with the
smallest possible number of original variables (Cattell, 1965;
Harmon, 1967). The "contributions" of some variables to a given
factor were maximized, while the "contributions" of others were
minimized. Optimally, therefore, a given variable contributed sub-
stantially to but one factor.
The relative contributions (correlations or "loadings") of the
variables to the factors were adjudged "significant" on a somewhat
empirical basis (Sokal and Daly, 1961; see Table ll). Loadings
of variables on factors, therefore, were either as large or as
small as possible. "Non-significant" loadings were usually much
less than .20, whereas "significant" loadings were greater than
.hO on an absolute scale of zero to one.
Commonality expressed the amount of interaction of a variable with
the others. It indicated the "importance" of the variable to the
limited system studied; variables with low communalities contributed
relatively little to the covariance of the other variables. The
factor analysis with communalities was completed using the IBM
360-70 computer at UCSB.
Three factors identified communities organized by depth, bottom
type, and associations of common species. The subgroups of common
species resolved by the factor analysis were later enlarged by
adding rare species that frequently occurred with the common ones.
The enlarged groups were called "communities." The numerical
structure of these communities was depicted as species-abundance
curves (see, e.g., Odum et al., 1960), which were compared between
"oiled" and "not oiled" representations (Figs. 6-8) by rank corre-
lation tests when possible (Sokal and Rohlf, 1969), The fourth
factor related seasonal change with evolution of the sport fishery
and fluctuations of seasonal species. The suggested sequence: of
events from winter through summer was compared with a "not oiled"
representation from 1967 (Fig. 9).
Results
The bottom fishes of the relatively deep (l) and intermediate (II)
localities off the kelp beds seemed to be more abundant and diverse
in the "oiled" series, although the differences were non-significant
(Table 7). The 19 "oiled" collections from Locality I averaged
185 individuals of 14.6 species, which did not differ significantly
from the averages of 159 individuals of 12.0 species for the 12
"not oiled" collections of 1967 ("t" test, P>.05). The 15 "oiled"
collections from Locality II averaged 101 individuals of 11.1
species, while two "not oiled" collections of 1967 averaged but
8k individuals of 9.0 species. No shallow Santa Barbara collections
-------
were available from 196?. For Locality I, the average volumes of
fish and invertebrates resembled those estimated for 1967, con-
sidering their state of preservation (Table 7).
The six "not oiled" collections from the Paradise Cove and Zuma
Beach area (PCZ) averaged fewer fish species and individuals than
the 50 "oiled" collections from Santa Barbara (Table 7). However,
the single "not oiled" collection from Locality I off Zuma Beach
contained 201 individuals of 13 species, while 19 "oiled" deep
collections from Santa Barbara averaged 185 individuals of lU.6
species. The two PCZ Locality II collections averaged but 30/0
the abundance and 50$ the diversity of the 15 Santa Barbara
collections. The three PCZ Locality III (shallow) collections
averaged but about 50$ the abundance and diversity of the l6 com-
parable Santa Barbara collections. But Localities II and III
appeared to be naturally less productive at PCZ. Furthermore,
the shallow collections were hardly comparable because the PCZ
trawls were made over a relatively sterile bottom, compared with
the kelp-littered habitats off Santa Barbara. Relatively few sea
cucumbers were taken in the deep trawl off PCZ. These large in-
vertebrates abound on the detritus-covered sandy-mud bottom off
the Santa Barbara kelp.
The numbers of species shared between "oiled" collections of 1969
and "not oiled" collections of 1967 did not differ significantly
from the expected numbers in either Locality I or Locality II
(Tables 8, 9)« There were no significant differences among
months, whether the "oiled"-"not oiled" pairs of collections were
from the periods March-April, April-May, or March-May.
The numbers of species not shared between these "oiled" and "not
oiled" collections differed significantly in 5 of 11 contrasts.
That is, significantly more unique species were taken in one than
in the other collection of five pairs (Table 9). But most of
these five contrasts showed the effects of one deep collection
made in 1969, which contained one specimen each of six rare
flatfishes, and of one heterogeneous intermediate collection made
in 1967, which contained a diversity of species from both the
intermediate and deep habitats.
The numbers of species both shared and not shared between "oiled"
Santa Barbara collections and "not oiled" PCZ collections differed
significantly in five of nine contrasts, mostly within the shallow
series (Table 10). The deep collections did not differ significantly
from expected in either shared or unique species; the intermediate
collections did not differ significantly in shared species but
differed in unique species; and the shallow collections differed
significantly in both shared and unique species. The differences
favored the more speciose Santa Barbara collections, which were
made in richer habitats near the kelp beds.
-------
Table 7
Catches of bottom fishes and invertebrates trawled in an unpolluted area off Zuma
Beach and Paradise Cove (PCZ) during April and July, 1969, compared with catches
trawled during February-August, 1969 about the "oiled" kelp beds off Santa Barbara
(SB) and with catches trawled in the same area during March-May, 1967 before the
spill. Although localities were selected in the PCZ area to correspond with the three
SB localities, the shallow localities (II, III) off Zuma Beach were characteristically
sandier and less productive. SB Locality III in shallow water with kelp-strewn
sandy bottom shoreward of the kelp bed, was not trawled in 1967. Locality II, just
seaward of the kelp, was sampled but three times in 1967, so that the most meaningful
comparisons between years come from Locality I in deeper water with sandy mud bottom
(Fig. l). Displacement volumes were not measured in 1967, although fish captures were
estimated from one haul (queried). Most invertebrates were identified to species;
others were recorded by general kind (crabs, urchins, etc.). At Locality III, and
to a lesser extent II, many invertebrates clinging to bundles of loose kelp were
accidently discarded as the trawl was cleared during retrieval.
Locality I
Locality II
Locality III
Date, Area
Fishes
1969 PCZ
1969 SB
1967 SB
Invertebrates
1969 PCZ
1969 SB
1967 SB
CO
C
O
-H
-P
O
CJ
& 8
i
19
12
1
19
9
CO
0)
H
O C
0) 0
Pl-H
M -P
= O
CD
O i-t
C O
O
IS,
13
Ik. 6
12.0
10
9.5
9.6
W
§
5
C fH
H 0
'O *H
0)
O i-H
JH
201
185.2
159.4
r-t
6
<\
a
H O
fVH T3 -H
CO -P
= O
D
C
^S,
5.3
10.7
-------
Table 8
Observed and expected numbers of fish species shared and not shared ( unique ) in
pairs of collections, one member trawled in 1967, the other in 1969 during the oil
spill. Pairs are matched by locality, deep (i) and shallow (II), and by date, during
March, April, or May. Values of chi-square express the deviations from expected
numbers of shared or unique species in the pairs as: (observed expected) /expected
value. Calculation of all expected values is explained in the text. These chi-
square values are summed between years, by month and locality in Table 9 to compare
catches trawled before with comparable catches trawled after the 1969 oil blowout.
Locality
I
Deep
II
Shallow
1
£
March
April
May
April
May
1
Matched
Collectioi
Pairs
1967-69
(by trawl
number )
12-OU
13-08
23-13
29-18
38-25
U8-28
20-12
31-26
36-29
Species
shared
CO
§
7
7
U
7
12
6
'«
8
I
8.07
8.07
8.07
8.07
8.07
8.07
1 I U.77
i
7 i U.77
8
U.77
Chi-
square
O.lU
O.lU
2.05
O.lU
1.91
0.53
2.98
1.0U
2.19
Species
unique
to 1
Observec
7
5
5
6
5
3
967
1)
1
U.68
U.68
U.68
U.68
U.68
U.68
T
Ul7.Uo
6
7.UO
IS'T.UO
Chi-
square
1.15
0.02
0.02
0.37
0.02
0.60
1.56
0.26
15.18
Species
unique tc
1969
Observed
2
lU
5
2
U
>
§W +J
QJ -H
al3
« a o
S W -H
9 !
16
15
10
16
17
12.75
12.17
Table 9
Comparison of fish catches trawled prior to the oil blowout with comparable catches trawled after
the blowout. Chi-square values, sunned between years by month and locality (Z.X ), express the
deviations from expected numbers of species shared or not shared (unique) in collection pairs matched
by locality and date, one member trawled in 1967, the other in 1969 (see Table 8). All combinations
of observed vs. expected chi-squares among months were summed for both years pooled (lower table)
to show that monthly catch variability does not preclude the required between-year contrasts. NS
non-significant at the P-.05 level; d.f. degrees of freedom, usually n-2 (Sokal and Rohlf, 1969).
CO
H
10
CO
S3
£
g
£
+5
0)
A
H
U
jL-f
^l.'3
*f&
11 &
>>
4?
H
1
3
w S
Q
g
W-j
"^
S
*^ at
g
TH
4J
a
Calcul
2X2
d.f.
P
sr
d.f.
P
ix2
d.f.
& P
|i X2
«g
|
d.f.
P
§
H
to o\ +>
flj -c}\O O
^H «J 1 V CO
o H t- H h
ftS'os o "3
W « rH 0 A
U.91
4
NS
6.21
1
.01
2.20
1
NS
1.86
1
NS
Species unique to either 1967 or 1969
collections (i.e., not shared)
Year
1967
2.18
4
NS
17.00
1
5. .005
...
...
...
. . .
. . .
1969
37. 9U
4
< .005
1.02
1
Total years,
1967 * 1969
U0.12
9
<, .005
18.02
3
NS <. .005
i 21.92
...
...
...
. . .
...
4
Months
March April
35.67 ' 1.9U
2 2
<.005 ' MS
: 1.90
... j i
.... NS
10.06 1.81*
May
U.62
2
NS
16.12
2
< .005
10.02
1 I 1
<.005 < .005 NS | \ .005
157 ; 1.U2 3.U2 ! 152
ill 1 1
<.005 NS .05 < .005
-------
Table 10
Comparison of fish catches trawled off Zuma Beach and Paradise Cove (PCZ) with
comparable catches trawled in the "oiled" Santa Barbara Channel (SB) . Chi-square
values, summed between areas by locality, express the deviations from expected
numbers of species shared or not shared (unique) in pairs of collections matched
by locality and date, one member trawled in the "not oiled" PCZ area, the other in
the "oiled" SB area. Because only one collection pair compares the deep locality,
all chi-squares shared and unique are pooled as one contrast, observed vs. expected.
NS - non-significant at the P-.05 level; d.f. - degrees of freedom, usually n-2.
Locality
Shallow
III
Intermediate
II
Deep
I
Calculation
chi-square sum
d.f.
P
chi-square sum
d.f.
P
chi-square sum
d.f.
P
Species Species unique to either PCZ or SB
shared . collections (i.e., not shared)
PCZ - SB
coll. pair
18.90
4
<.005
3.»+7
PCZ
3.65
4
NS
1.11
2 I 2
NS ' NS
SB
88 A
4
< .005
32.7
2
<.005
I (pooled) ; N
\ ' -
PCZ + SB
91.7
9
-------
Table 11
Factors that group species and other variables Into habitat associations and com-
munities or seasonal causal arrays (see text). Identification of variables with the
factors Is Indicated by their loadings on (correlations with) the factors. "Signi-
ficant" loadings range from *.40 to *1.0. Most "non-significant" loadings were
close to zero and rarely exceeded *.20. Factors are named for the variables having
highest loadings; physical variables, which are usually causes, before biological,
which are visually effects. The communality (0-1.0) measures interactions with the
other variables; i.e., variables with many significant simple correlations have
relatively high communalities. * . vuriaole loading on more than one factor.
Factor I: Deep Sandy Mud
Variable
Loading Communality
Greatest depth .93 .92
Mean depth .93 .92
Sea cucumbers .91 .89
Dover sole .91 .9!*
N. midshipman .89 .86
Yellowchin sculpin .8? .77
Longspine combfish .87 .78
Substrate (sandy mud) .86 .78
Sand stars ,8k .78
Halfbanded rockfish (yg.) .82 .83
Pacific sanddab .81 .73
Pink seaperch (Ad.) .79 .66
Depth range .79 .65
Deep seapen .79 .70
Water transparency .73 .70
Pink seaperch (yg.) .73 .59
Longfin sanddab .72 .60
Bigmouth sole ,6k .1*9
Invertebrate volumes .63 .1*6
Fish volumes* .60 .68
Fish diversity* .5!* .73
Halfbanded rockfish (ad.) .5^ .50
Factor IV: Shallow Flatfish
English sole .81 .68
Curlfin sole .78 .61*
Speckled sanddab .68 .76
Fantail sole .55 -W+
C-0 sole .^5 -30
Rainbow seaperch* .1*1 -76
Factor II: Seasonal Temperature
Sportfish
Variable Loading Communality
Days after Feb. 21 .96 .92
Offshore temperature .9!* .89
Bass catch .93 .88 .
Mysid shrimp/liter .93 .87
On-station temperature .90 .83
Halibut catch .77 .6k
Rockfish-rockcod catch -.76 .68
Tiburon temperature .7^ .57
Sea state -.70 .53
Surface salinity .65 .W3
Bonito-barracuda catch .68 .52
White croaker -.1*3 .30
Factor III: Seaperch
Walleye surfperch .72 .65
Black perch .67 .81
Rainbow seaperch* .61* .76
White seaperch .5** .58
Fish volumes* .55 .68
Fish diversity* .55 .73
California shrimp .51 .36
Cancer crabs .50 .1*3
Oil pollution .1*8 .25
Pipefish .1*3 .1*5
Variables not loading significantly
on any factor
Dwarf seaperch 'tl
Kelp crabs -39
Time of day (late AM-PM) .33
Phase of moon -18
Kelp whelk -I1*
Overcast -07
pink seaperch was relatively more abundant and the yellowfin
sculpin was less abundant in the pooled "oiled" collections.
Another factor resolved a community of animals, mostly seaperches,
that live among drifting clumps of loose seaweed in a zone of
transition between the kelp beds and the deep sandy mud or shallow
clean sandy habitats (Table ll). Many of the seaperches are eco-
logical generalists, in that they get by quite well either inside
or outside the kelp beds. The species and environmental variables
defining this "seaperch factor" were, in order: fish abundances
-------
of the walleye surfperch (Fig. 1, Ha), black perch (Ej), rainbow
seaperch (He), white seaperch (Pf), shiner perch (Ca), pipefish
(Sy); invertebrate abundances of California shrimp and cancer
crabs; volume of fish; total number of fish species; and amount
of oil. Fish volumes were large because individual fish were
relatively large and fish diversity was high because members of
other communities were commonly caught in this marginal habitat.
The abundance-diversity curve, contrived from captures reported
by Carlisle (1969) and representing the Seaperch Community of
fishes in the "not oiled" Santa Monica Bay environment differed
substantially from that representing this community in the "oiled"
Santa Barbara environment (Fig. 7). The rank orders of "not
oiled" and "oiled" species abundances were not significantly
correlated (Kendall's tau rank correlation). The two habitats
are hardly comparable, however, in that the Santa Monica area
contains no large kelp beds and so the habitat of the community
is associated with artifacts, such as pier pilings, anchorages,
and breakwaters. The disparities in the rankings reflected the
habitat differences. The shiner perch, which leads the Santa
Monica ranks, seems to prefer backwaters and artificial habitats,
while the white seaperch, which leads the Santa Barbara ranks,
prefers natural habitats in and about the kelp beds. Also,
species characteristic of kelp beds and rocky reefs, such as
the black perch, cabezon, and grass rockfish were commonly
trawled near the Santa Barbara kelp, but were relatively rare
in the Santa Monica collections reported by Carlisle.
Another factor resolved a relatively simple community of strictly
bottom species, mostly flatfishes, that prefer clean sandy areas
in intermediate or shallow habitats (Table 11). Here, shallow-
living species of soles and sanddabs replace their deeper-living
counterparts of the Deep Sandy-Mud Community. The species varia-
bles defining this shallow flatfish factor were, in order: fish
abundances of the English sole (Fig. 8, Pv), curlfin sole (Pd),
speckled sanddab (Cst), fantail sole (Xl), and C-0 sole (Pco).
The abundance-diversity curve representing the Shallow Flatfish
Community in the "not oiled" environment off Zuma Beach (PCZ)
resembled that representing this community in the "oiled" Santa
Barbara environment (Fig. 8). A correlation test of abundance
ranks was not meaningful, however, because the speckled sanddab
overwhelmingly predominated the community, and all other members
were relatively scarce. Also, the two environments were not
strictly comparable. The bottom near Zuma Beach is composed
mostly of pure sand, while that off Santa Barbara is more complex
and is littered by debris from the adjacent kelp beds and reefs.
However, the speckled sanddab appeared to be equally abundant in
-------
both environments and entered the habitat of the Seaperch Commu-
nity. It did not have the highest loading on the shallow flat-
fish factor, even though it was the most abundance member of the
Shallow Flatfish Community. This implied that the English and
curlfin soles are more typical community members because their
loadings were higher (i.e., their abundances were strongly inter-
correlated (r = .60) and were significantly correlated with other
important members (.36 to .U2)j. Both the PCZ and Santa Barbara
collections averaged about 55 "shallow flatfish" per collection.
Not Oiled
Oiled
s
c
JC
(A
«
o
2
JD
O
3
5
_c
o
2
9
9
O
i
<£
18
14
10
6
2
0
r- Cso, Ss
\
- ' Iq
- » Pno
r- Zr
- \
Zl
^f> Mp, So
\
Cx
X LI,Ot,H«
1 12 \
\o\\\m)
20
40
60
80
100
is ,- ss
14
10
6
2
0
'I
- Zr, Cso
. Pno
-\
Mp
\ « z.
^» So.Cx.lq
~ ^» Hs.Sv.Pv
Pm.01
" i 1 i 1 ili 1
0 20 40 60 80
( l3 ^
Votlxrs;
i 1
100
Percentage total species (cumulative)
FIGURE 6. ABUNDANCE-DIVERSITY CURVES COMPARING "NOT OILED" AND
"OILED" REPRESENTATIONS OF THE DEEP SANDY MUD COM-
MUNITY OF BOTTOM FISHES
Species are identified, in alphabetical order, as: Cso, Pacific
sanddab (Citharichthys sordidus); Cx, longfin sanddab (C_.
xanthostigma); Us, bigmouth sole (Hippoglossina stomata); Iq,
yellowchin sculpin (Icelinus quadriseriatus); LI, bay goby
(Lepidogobius lepidus); Mp, Dover sole (Hicrostomus pacificus);
Ot, spotted cusk-eel (Otophidium taylori); Pm, slim midshipman
(Porichthys myriaster) ; Pno, northern midshipman (P_. notatus) ;
Sa, California tonguefish (Symphurus atricauda); Ss, halfbanded
rockfish (Sebastodes semicir^ctus); Sv, whitebelly rockfish (S.
vexillaris) ; Zl, longspine combfish (Zaniolepis latipinnis); Zr,
pink seaperch (Zalembius rosaceus). The rarest species are
grouped as "others."
-------
The oil variable had a low coramutiality (.25) with the others
(Table 11). It correlated significantly with calmer seas
(r=-.32) and increasing fish diversity (.30), and positively
though not quite significantly with abundances of most Sea-
perch Community members (.17 to .25). Therefore, it loaded
on the seaperch factor. More oil was noticed on calm days in
30
26
2 22
c
_o
£ 18
TO
°>
14
O
£ 10
8 6
£
2
0
Not Oiled
(Santa Monica Bay
from Carlisle, 1969)
Sy.Pf
\
> Rv. E]
Rt
Ha.Pc.Pne.Hr
22
ie
14
to
100
Oiled
Mm.Sy
\
Ha
>Ca,Hr
20
40
60
80
100
Percentage total species (cumulative)
FIGURE 7. ABUNDANCE-DIVERSITY CURVES COMPARING "NOT OILED" AND
"OILED" REPRESENTATIONS OF THE SEAPERCH COMMUNITY
THAT INHABITS SANTA MONICA BAY AND THE TRANSITIONAL
ZONE AT THE MARGINS OF SANTA BARBARA KELP BEDS
Species are identified, in alphabetical order, as: Aa, barred
surfperch (Amphistichus argenteus); Ca, shiner perch (Cymato-
M§ler_ aggregata) ; Ej, black perch (Embiotoca jacksoni) ; Gm,
striped kelpfish (Gibbonsia metzi); Ha, walleye surfperch (H.
argenteum); He, rainbow seaperch (Hypsurus caryi); Hr, giant
kelpfish (He_te_r_qstichus rostratus) ; Mm, dwarf seaperch (Micro-
metrus minimus); PC, kelp bass (Paralabrax clathratus); Pf, white
seaperch (Phanerodpn furcatus); Pne, sand bass (Paralabrax
nebulifer); Rt, rubberlip perch (Rhacochilus toxotes); Rv,
pile perch (R.. vacca) ; Sra, cabezon (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus) ;
Sr, grass rockfish (Sebastodes rastrelliger); Sy, pipefish
(Syngnatbus, sp.). The rarest species are grouped as "others."
50
-------
the localities of abundant seaperch catches and diverse fish
collections. Foster et al. (1969) noted that oil covered the
kelp canopy during the period of severe spill. The coincidence
of better seaperch catches and surface oil, therefore, may
simply mean that oil was often recorded over the best habitat
for the Seaperch Community, especially when the ocean surface
70
60
50
40
30
f 20
c
«
u
I
10
- *Cit
Not Oiled
(inc. ZumoBeach localities)
SO
70
60
50
i Pd
Os.XI.Pco
Pv.Hg.Pco (othari)
* _f
_L
30
20
10
Oiled
- ' ^Pv.XI Peo.Sc.Hg.Bp.Ot. (others)
20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40
Percentage total species (cumulative)
60
80
100
FIGURE 8. ABUNDANCE-DIVERSITY CURVES COMPARING "NOT OILED" AND
"OILED" REPRESENTATIONS OF THE SHALLOW FLATFISH
COMMUNITY THAT INHABITS SANDY BOTTOMS
Species are identified, in alphabetical order, as : Bp, shovel-
nose guitarfish (Rhinobatus productus); Hg, diamond turbot
(Hypsopsetta guttulata); Os, basketweave cusk-eel (Otophldium
scrippsae) ; Pea, California halibut (Paralichthys calj.f_ornicus_) ;
Pco, C-0 sole (Pleuronichthys coenosus); Pd, curlfin solV (P.
decurrens) ; Pv, English sole (Parophrys vj^tulusj; Cst, speckled
sanddab (Citharichthys stigmaeus); Sc, Pacific angel shark
(Squatina californica) ; XI, fantail sole (Xystrejirys liplepis) .
The rarest species are grouped as "others."
-------
was flat at the edge of the kelp where two communities overlap.
The oil itself probably did not affect the catches one way or
another. Other physical variables with low communalities were:
increasing overcast,phase of moon, and time of day (most trawls
were made near midday).
The last factor resolved a series of seasonal events without species
correlates (Table 11). Most indicated the concordant changes in
local water masses and Channel Island sport fisheries from winter
through summer. Environmental and catch-rate variables defining
this seasonal sportfish factor were, in order: number of days
after February 21, 1969? rising offshore and on-station water
temperatures, calming seas, and increasing surface salinity; de-
creasing catch of rockfish per angler was inversely correlated
with increasing catches of kelp bass, halibut, bonito, and barra-
cuda. Coincidentally, the density of small mysid shrimps that
live on the kelp canopy increased steadily throughout the spring
and summer.
The uneven decrease of total sport-fish catch from winter through
summer reflected the usual pattern of decreasing effort to catch
the pedestrian but always available deep rockfishes along with
increasing effort to catch the preferred surface game fishes during
the warmer months (Fig. 9). This trend was evident both before
and after the oil spill during the same seasons in 196? and in
1969. The rising water temperature and salinity reflected the
progression of oceanographic periods (see Section IV). Live
anchovies became increasingly available for bait. This accounted
for larger catches of kelp bass and halibut and contributed to
the surface game fishery, which included large migratory fishes
like the bonito and barracuda that follow the warming trend.
Although rockfish can be caught in relatively large numbers on
heavily weighted gang hooks baited with dead bait and fished in
deep water, they provide generally less sport than the surface
game fish, which are usually caught in fewer numbers on single
hooks baited with live anchovies skillfully cast, with little or
no extra weight, onto the surface of the water.
The winter rockfishery was erratic following the oil spill (Fig. 9).
But a sharp drop in catches immediately after the spill was most
likely caused by the combined effects of severe storms and the
undesirability of fishing in or near oil slicks. Catches of rock-
fish were back to previous levels by early April after the storms.
As the water warmed abruptly in early May before the late onset
of upwelling in June, the first significant catches of halibut,
bass, and bonito heralded the surface game fishery.
52
-------
Catch per angler
o>
03
ro
a>
ro
O
Surface fishing mostly
Barracuda
Anchovies netted
off Santa Barbara
FIGURE 9.
Monthly mean temperature, °C
SEASONAL CHANGE IN THE CHANNEL ISLAND SPORT FISHERY
The total catch per angler (solid, unshaded line through open
circles) and water temperature (hatched line) after the blowout
during 1969 are compared with the catch (dashed, unshaded line
through solid circles) and water temperature (stippled line) prior
to the blowout during the same seasons of 1967. Arrows indicate
pertinent events occurring in 1969.
53
-------
Populations of small mysid shrimps, which showed a progressive
resurgence during the present study, may have been initially
decimated by the oil that covered the kelp canopy. Dense popu-
lations observed in the canopy during the fall of 1968 were
undetectable immediately after the spill (Dr. Richard M. Ibara,
personal communication). After reappearing in late March, the
mysids increased in density through the spring and summer. But
the severe storms with heavy rains may have also disturbed their
habitat and driven them elsewhere.
Discussion
Sampling bias and environmental heterogeneity probably accounted
for most of the surprisingly few conspicuous differences observed
between assemblages of bottom fishes trawled from "oiled" and "not
oiled" localities near kelp beds. Catches from "oiled" environ-
ments were often more productive than catches from "not oiled"
environments for reasons probably unrelated to the oil spill. The
Deep Sandy-Mud Community, the only community adequately represented
by collections made before the spill, showed no significant differ-
ences in general composition or diversity. The Seaperch Community
was associated with increasing amounts of oil observed on station,
but this may simply mean that oil was recorded most often near the
kelp beds where the members congregate.
Climatic anomalies may have caused the few remaining differences.
Northern and southern species react differently to warming or
cooling trends (Hubbs, 19^8, I960; Radovich, 196l). Such trends
exert their greatest effects on a fishery at the margins of several
fish populations, such as occur in the Channel. But, wide fluc-
tuations in catches between climatically dissimilar years may be
obscured by artificial disruptions like overfishing and pollution
(Radovich, 19&1). In 1969? nearshore temperatures rose sharply
in April after a prolonged period of winter mixing (Flittner,
1969a; Fig. 9). Then sporadic upwelling occurred from late June
to August, so that summer warming lagged behind normal (Flittner,
1969b). Large migratory fishes that prefer warm water arrived
relatively late. For example, the albacore, which prefers
temperatures between 60 and 66°F, arrived in the California fishery
some two or three weeks later than in 1968 (Flittner, 19690).
The relatively greater 1969 abundance of pink seaperch at Locality
I may have reflected the prolonged mixing period. We noticed that
this fish is very sensitive to slight warming and soon dies of
heat stress in an aquarium at only lU°C. Some deep-water rock-
fishes, however, persisted in the same aquarium and may be less
temperature sensitive. By summer, rockfishes had become pro-
portionately more abundant in the collections. Normally, depths
-------
exceeding 100 feet are coldest during May and June of the upwelling
period (Quast, 1968a).
Most of the seasonal variables explained the evolution of the Channel
Island sport fishery from winter through summer. Catches from boats
berthed at Oxnard and Port Hueneme changed as surface temperatures
and salinities rose after the winter mixing period. The erratic
trend of decrease in catch per angler reflected the usual change-
over from a deep bottom fishery for rockfish and lingcod during
the winter and spring to a preferred surface game fishery during
the summer. The collapse of the Santa Barbara sport fishery follow-
ing the initial heavy spill, therefore, may have been caused by
factors other than a lack of fish to catch near the Channel Islands.
The harbor was closed during the worst part of the spill after the
blowout. Then, the undesirability of fishing in oil slicks, the
general opinion that fishing would be poor, the fear that oil may
have tainted the fish, and the effects of various management problems
probably discouraged later effort.
The shoreward accumulation of oil along with the concurrent storms
may have decimated populations of mysid shrimps that live in the
kelp canopy. Perhaps as oil periodically covered the canopy, the
mysids either died or left their preferred habitat on the surface
kelp fronds. But, the mysids returned and they now seem to be as
dense as they were prior to the blowout.
-------
SECTION VI
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The principal investigators in this study were A. W. Ebeling, W. Werner,
F. A. DeWitt, Jr., and G. M. Gailliet of the Marine Science Institute and
Department of Biological Sciences, University of California, Santa Barbara.
The identifying, analyzing, and sorting of the trawl collections was per-
formed by George Arita, Henry Genthe, Linda Hendrian, Milton Love, Raphael
Payne, and Paulette Setzer of UCSB and Geoffrey Moser of the U. S. Marine
Fisheries Service in La Jolla. Norm Lammer built and installed the trawl
fittings on the UCSB Boston Whaler skiff and directed the midwater trawling
survey aboard the General Motors Research Vessel SWAN. The Sea Operations
Division of the General Motors Defense Research Laboratories in Santa Barbara
expedited the two-day cruise to collect macroplankton. Previous midwater
trawling from the SWAN was supported by grants from the National Science
Foundation GB 2867 and 4698 for charter of the SWAN, and GB 4.669 and 7973
for the derived ecological studies. Uncle Willie of the sport fishing dock
at Paradise Cove provided launching facilities for the skiff without charge.
Mary Ankeny typed the rough and final drafts of this report.
The Fisheries Oceanography Center of the U. S. Marine Fisheries Service
in La Jolla furnished monthly reports, summaries, and bulletins, relating
seasonal trends to west coast fisheries. Margaret K. Robinson of the Scripps
Institution of Oceanography provided reports of ocean temperatures and
salinities, which were supplemented by personnel at the Ventura Marina and
at the Tiburon Marine Laboratory. Dail W. Brown and Richard M. Ibara
completed much of the statistical analyses at the UCSB computer center.
57
-------
SECTION VII
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rockfish (Sebastodes sp.) larvae off California and Baja
California. Rapp. Proc. Verb. Cons. Internat. Explor. Mer,
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Ahlstrom, E. H. 1966. Distribution and abundance of sardine and
anchovy larvae in the California Current region off California
and Baja California, 1951-64: a summary. U. S. Fish Wild.
Ser. Spec. Sci. Rept. Ho. 534.
Aron, W., N. Blaxter, R. Noel and W. Andrews. 1964. A description
of a discrete depth plankton sampler with some notes on the
towing behavior of a six-foot Isaacs-Kidd mid-water trawl and
a one-meter ring net. Limnol. Oceanogr., 9: 324-333.
Brown, D. W. 1969* Midwater-fish communities of three contiguous
oceanic environments. Ph. D. Thesis, University of California,
Santa Barbara.
Buzas, M. A. and T. G. Gibson, 1969* Species diversity: benthonic
Foraminifera in western north Atlantic. Science, 163: 72-75-
Carlisle, J. G., Jr. 1969- Results of a six-year trawl study in
an area of heavy waste discharge: Santa Monica Bay, Cali-
fornia. Calif. Fish Game, 55: 26-46.
Carlisle, J. G. Jr., C. H. Turner, and E. E. Ebert. 1964. Arti-
ficial habitat in the marine environment. Calif. Dept. Fish
Game Fish Bull. No. 124. 93 pp.
Cattell, R. B. 1965. Factor analysis: an introduction to
essentials. I. The purpose and underlying models. Bio-
metrics, 21: 190-210.
Day, D. S. and W. G. Pearcy. 1968. Species associations of
benthic fishes on the continental shelf and slope off Oregon.
J. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada, 25: 2665-2675.
Ebeling, A. W., R. M. Ibara, R. J. Lavenberg, and F. J. Rohlf.
1970a. Ecological groups of deep-sea animals off southern
California. Los Angeles Co. Mus. Nat. Hist. Sci. Bull. No. 6.
^3 PP.
Ebeling, A. W., G. M. Cailliet, R. M. Ibara, F. A. DeWitt, Jr.,
and D. W. Brown. 1970b. Pelagic communities and sound
59
-------
scattering off Santa Barbara, California. Proc. Internat.
Symp. Biol. Sound Scattering Ocean, Maury Center Ocean
Sci. Washington, Rept. No. 5, pp. 1-19.
Emery, K. 0. 1960. The sea off southern California. Wiley, N. Y.
Fager, E. W. and A. R. Longhurst. 1968. Recurrent group analy-
sis of species assemblages of demersal fish in the Gulf of
Guinea. J. Fish. Res. Bd. Can., 25: 1405-1421.
Flittner, G. A. 1969a. Temperate tuna forecast for 1969, pp.
1-7. In U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, La Jolla, Calif.,
Fishery Market News Monthly Summary, May 1969. Part II
Fishing Information.
F.littner, G. A. 1969b. Ibid., June, 1969, p. 1-3.
Flittner, G. A. 1969c. U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fishery-
Oceanography Center, La Jolla. 1969 Bulletins.
Foster, M., A. C. Charters, and M. Neushul. 1969a. The Santa
Barbara Oil Spill I. Initial quantities and distribution of
pollutant crude oil, pp. 6-24. In Final report dealing with
the early stages of the Santa Barbara Oil Spill.
Environmental Protection Agency, Contract No. 14-12-516.
Foster, M., M. Neushul, and R. Zingmark. 1969b. ,The Santa Bar-
bara Oil Spill II. Initial effects on littoral and kelp bed
organisms. Ibid., pp. 25-44.
Harman, H. H. 1967. Modern factor analysis (Second Edition).
U. Chicago Press, Chicago.
Holcomb, R. W. 1969. Oil in the ecosystem. Science, 166:204-206.
Horn, K. II., J. M. Teal, and R. H. Backus. 1970. Petroleum
lumps on the surface of the sea. Science, 168: 245-246.
Hubbs, C. L. 1948. Changes in the fish fauna of western North
America correlated with changes in ocean temperature. J.
Mar. Res., 7: 459-482.
Hubbs, C. L. 1960. The marine vertebrates of the outer coast.
Syst. Zool., 9: 134-147.
Isaacs, J. D., A. Fleminger, and J. K. Miller. 1969. Distri-
butional atlas of zooplankton biomass in the California
Current region: spring and fall 1955-1959. Calif. Coop.
Ocean. Fish. Invest., Atlas No. 10.
Jones, J. R. E. 1964. Fish and river pollution. Butterworths,
London.
Kolpack, R. L. 1971. Oceanography of the Santa Barbara Channel.
Allan Hancock Foundation, U. Southern Calif. (Manuscript,
from general report on the Santa Barbara Oil Spill.)
60
-------
Lavenberg, R. J. and A. W. Ebeling. 196?. Distribution of mid-
water fishes among deep-water Basins of the southern California
shelf. Proc. Symp. Biol. California Ids. Santa Barbara
Botanic Garden, Santa Barbara, Calif., pp. 185-201.
Lloyd, M. 1967- "Mean crowding." J. Animal Ecol., 36: 1-30.
Lloyd, M., J. H. Zar, and J. R. Karr. 1968. On the calculation
of information-theoretical measures of diversity. Amer. Mid.
Nat., 79: 257-272.
Los Angeles Times. 1969. Ocean fish report. (Sport fish catches
from various southern California localities, published daily
in the Sports Section of the newspaper.)
Manwell, C. and C. M. A. Baker. 1967. Oil and detergent pollu-
tion, past, present, politics, and prospects. J. Devon
Trust Nature Conserv. (Suppl.), June: 39-72.
Margalef, R. 1968. Perspectives in ecological theory. U.
Chicago Press, Chicago.
Meek, R., G. Pearson, and A. Ebeling. 1969. Quality testing of
selected bottom fishes trawled after Santa Barbara oil
leakage. (Manuscript report.)
Nelson-Smith, A. 19&7. Oil, emulsifiers and marine life. J.
Devon Trust Nature Conserv. (Suppl.), June: 29-33.
News Press, Santa Barbara. 19&9* (Various newspaper articles
on possible oil damage to local fisheries, etc.)
North, W. J. 1963. Ecology of the rocky nearshore environment
in southern California and possible influences of discharged
wastes. Internat. J. Air Water Pollut., 7: 721-736.
North, W. J., M. Neushul, and K. A. Clendenning. 196U. Success-
ive biological changes observed in a marine cove exposed
to a large spillage of mineral oil. Comm. Internat. Explor.
Sci. Mer Medit., Symp. Pollut. Mar. Microorgan. Prod. Petrol.
Monaco, April, 196U: 335-35^.
Odum, H. T., J. E. Cantlon, and L. S. Kornicker. I960. An
organizational hierarchy postulate for the interpretation of
species-individual distributions, species entropy, ecosystem
evolution, and the meaning of a species-variety index.
Ecology, hi: 395-399.
61
-------
O1Sullivan, A. J. and A. J. Richardson. 196?. The effects of
the oil on intertidal marine life. J. Devon Trust Nature
Conserv. (Suppl.), June: 3^8.
Patrick, R. 1970. Benthic stream communities, a discussion of
the factors that affect their structure and how they
function. Amer. Sci., 58: 5^6-5^9.
Potts, G., J. Gage, and B. Forster. 196?. Diving studies on the
TOKREY CANYON oil pollution. J. Devon Trust Nature Conserv.
(Suppl.), June: 22-2k.
Quast, J. Co 1968a. Some physical aspects of the inshore
environment, particularly as it affects kelp-bed fishes, pp.
25-3^. In North, W. J. and C. L. Hubbs (eds.), Utilization
of kelp-bed resources in southern California. Calif. Dept.
Fish Game Fish Bull. No. 139.
Quast, J. C. 1968b. Fish fauna of the rocky inshore zone.
Ibid., p. 35-55.
Radovich, J. 1961. Relationships of some marine organisms of
the northeast Pacific to water temperatures, particularly
during 1957 through 1959. Calif. Dept. Fish Game Fish
Bull. No. 112. 62 pp.
Reid, J. L. Jr., G. I. Roden, and J. G. Wyllie. 1958. Studies
of the California Current System. Calif. Coop. Ocean. Fish.
Invest. Prog. Rept», 1 July 1956 - 1 July 1958, p. 27-56.
Smithsonian Institution Center for Short-lived Phenomena. 1969.
(immediate notices of environmental disturbances reported
world-wide.)
Spooner, M. F. 1967. Biological effects of the TORREY CANYON
disaster. J. Devon Trust Nature Conserv. (Suppl.), June:
12-19.
Sokal, R. R. and H. V. Daly. 1961. An application of factor
analysis to insect behavior. U. Kansas Sci. Bull., U2:
1067-1097.
Sokal, R. R. and F. J. Rohlf. 1969, Biometry. W. H. Freeman,
San Francisco.
Stapleton, R. P. 1968. Trace elements in tissues of the calico
bass Paralabrax clathratus (Girard). Bull. S. Calif. Acad.
Sci., 67: 49-58.
62
-------
Turner, C. H., E. E. Ebert, and R. R. Given. 19&5. Survey of the
marine environment offshore of San Elijo Lagoon, San Diego
County. Calif. Fish Game, 51: 81-112.
Turner, C. H., E. E. Ebert, and R. R. Given. 1966. The marine
environment in the vicinity of the Orange County Sanitation
District's ocean outfall. Calif. Fish Game, 52: 28-1+8.
Turner, C. H., E. E. Ebert, and R. R. Given. 1968. The marine
environment offshore from Point Loma, San Diego County.
Calif. Dept. Fish Game Fish Bull. No. 1^0. 85 pp.
Turner, C. H. and A. R. Strachan. 1969. The marine environment
in the vicinity of the San Gabriel River mouth. Calif. Fish
Game, 55: 53-68.
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1969a. BCF scientists on
JORDAN assess effect of oil spillage in Santa Barbara Channel.
Monthly Report, February, 1969.
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1969b. Sea surface temperature
charts, eastern Pacific Ocean (November, 1968 through August,
1969). In U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fishery-Ocean-
ography Center, La Jolla, California, Fishery Market News
Monthly Summaries, November, 1968 - August 1969. Part II -
Fishing Information.
63
-------
SECTION VIII
APPENDICES
Page No.
I Captures of deep and shallow macroplankton
listed by species in order of abundance 66
II Captures of shallow bottom fishes and selected
invertebrates listed by species in order of
abundance 6?
65
-------
Appendix I. Captures of deep and shallow macroplankton, listed by species in order of abundance: fishes,
then invertebrates. All captures (numbers of individuals), made by midwater trawl from the General Motors
Research Vessel SWAN in 10 February-March hauls during the 1969 oil spill, are pooled for both the Santa
Barbara Channel and the Santa Cruz Basin. Fishes are designated by scientific name, followed by general
common name and fanily; invertebrates by scientific name and group only.
FISHES
Species Common Nane Family
Stenobrachius leucopsarus Lanternfish Myctophidae
Cyclothone acclinidens Bri stlemouth Gonostomatidae
C. signata ' Bristlemouth Gonostomatidae
Leurof^lossus stilbius Deep-sea smelt Bathylapidae
Triphoturus mexicanus Lanternfish Myctophidae
Sebastodes sp. (larvae only) Rockfish Scorpaenidae
Merluccius productus (larvae only) Pacific hake Gadidae
Engraulis mordax ( larvae only) Northern anchovy Enpraulidae
Dlaphus theta Lanternfish Myctophidae
Lampanyctus ritteri Lanternfish Myctophidae
Melanostigma painmelas (younp) Eelpout Zoarcidae
Argyropelecus lychnus Hatchetfish Sternoptychidae
Parmaturus xaniurus Filetail catshark Scvliorhinidae
Citharichthvs stigjnaeus (larvae only) Speckled sanddab Bothidae
Danaphos oculatus Biceye lightfish Gonostomatidae
Bathyla^us wesethi Deep-sea smelt Bathylagidae
Scorpaeni chthys marmoratus? (larvae only) Cabezon Cottidae
Sa^amichthys abei Shining tubeshoulder Searsiidae
Bathylagus milleri Deep-sea smelt Bathylagidae
Argyropelecus paci fi cus Hatchetfish Sternoptychidae
Idiacanthus antrostomus Blackdragon Idiacanthidae
Stomias atriventer Dragonflsh Stomiatidae
Chauliodus macouni Viperfish Chauliodontidae
Protomyctophuiri crockeri Lanternfish Myctophidae
Sebastolobus altivelis (young only) Longspine channel rockfish Scorpaenic
Microstoraus paci fi cus (larvae only) Dover sole Pleuronecl
Citharichthys sordidus (larvae only) Pacific sanddab Bothidae
ZahiolepTs frenata (larvae only) Shortspine combfish Zaniolepic
INVERTEBRATES
Species Group Ca]
Euphausia paci flea Euphausiid (krlll) shrimp
"Pointed siphonophoree" Siphonophore
Pasiphaea emarginata Decapod shrimp
Euplokamis californienais Ctenophore
Emerita analoga (larvae only) Sand crab
Sergestes similis Decapod shrimp
Nematocilis difficllls Euphausiid (krill) shrimp
Thysanoessa splnifera Euphausiid (krlll) shrimp
'Sagitta sp. Chaetognaths (arrow-worm)
Hyme'nodora frontalis Decapod shrimp
Salpa fusiformls Salp
Blepharipoda occidentalls? (larvae only) Sand crab
Aeglna sp. Medusa (Jellyfish)
Faracallisoma coesus Amphipod crustacean
Ifyperia galba Amphipod crustacean
Pasiphaea p_aciflca Decapod shrimp
Vibilia sp. Amphipod crustacean
"Megalops larvae1' Crab larvae
Paraphronlma crassipes Amphipod crustacean
"Zoea larvae" crab larvae
Euphausia hemi£ibba Euphausiid (krill) shrimp
Atolla vyvillei Medusa (Jellyfish)
Coloboneroa sp. Medusa (Jellyfish)
Pasiphaea chacei Decapod shrimp
Pleuroncodes sp (larvae only) Galatheld shrimp (decapod)
Praya dubia Siphonophore
"Zoea larvae" Crab larvae
Phronima sedentaria Amphipod crustacean
Conchoecia sp. Ostracod crustacean
Gennadas propinquus Decapod shrimp
Lepidopa myops (larvae only) Sand crab
Crossota rufobrunnea Medusa (Jellyfish)
Sergestes phorcus Decapod shrimp
Doliolum gegenbauri "Doliolid salp"
lae
tidae
lae
atures
2607
1299
930
270
233
233
205
192
190
160
58
39
3"t
28
25
23
23
20
18
17
13
13
It
It
k
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
1
Captures
506
132
116
5»
16
11
9
7
6
6
5
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
66
-------
Appendix II.
Captures of shallow bottom fishes and selected invertebrates, listed by species (or invertebrate group) in order
of abundance: fishes, then invertebrates. All captures (numbers of individuals), made by semi-balloon trawl
from the Boston Whaler skiff in 56 February-August hauls during the 1969 oil spill, are pooled for all three
localities (l-III, deep, intermediate, and shallow) around kelp beds in the "oiled" nearshore area off Santa Barbara
and the "not1 oiled" area off Zxma Beach and Paradise Cove to the south. Fishes are designated by scientific
name, followed by common name and family; invertebrates by kind only.
FISHES
Species
Ci thar^chthys stigmaeus
rebastqdes semicinctus
Zalembius r oga c eus
Citharichthys sordidus
Porlclithys n_ota_tu_s
Vicrostomus pacificus
Gcnygnervus l^neatus
Seiriphus politus
Zaniolepiji latipinnis
I.celinus quadriseriatus
Phanerpdpn furcatus
Crthari chthys xanthostigroa
Syniphurus atricauda
Smbiotoca ja'cXsoni
I^ffsurug caryi
Hi crometrus ninimus
Syngnathus sp.
Hyperprosopon argenteun
Pleuronj. cht-hyjs coenosus
P. decurrens
Cyiaatogasjter aggregata
Hippociossina stonata
Porichthys myriaster
Heterostichus rostratus
Parophrys vetulus
Sebastodes vexillaris
Pleuroni chthys verticalls
Xystreurys liolepis
Odontopyxi s"~tr i sp-fnosa
flypsopsetta guttulata
Rhinobatos productus
Otophijlun scrippsae
Lepidogobiu£ lepidus
Zaniolepis frenata
Paralichthys californicus
Squatina californica
Lyopsetta exilis
Gibbonsia metzi
Sebastodea levis
Hyperprosopon anale
Leptocottus armatus
CephaloacylliuEi uter
Xenerefanus triacanthua
Sgorpaeni chthys marmoratug
KLatyrhinoi de s triaeriata
Synodua luci^cepa
Sebastodes raatrelliger
Sebastodes mirieatus
Xeneretmue ritterl
Pleuronicht^hya ritteri
Amphistichus ari
-genteuj
jebastodea rubrivinctufl
Paralabrax clathratus
lalli
melanostictufi
Common Name
Stej-lerina xyoetejTia.
Aulorhynchua flavidua
Neoclinus blanchardi
TriaXis semifasciata
Speckled sanddab
llalfbanded rockflsh
Pink seaperch
Pacific sanddab
Northern midshipman
Dover sole
White croaker
Queenfish
Longspine combfish
Yellowchin sculpin
White seaperch
Longfin sanddab
California tonguefish
Black perch
Rainbow seaperch
Dwarf seaperch
Pipefish
Walleye surfperch
C-0 sole
CurIfin sole
Shiner perch
Bicrnouth sole
Slim midshipman
Giant kelpfish
English sole
Whitebelly rockfish
Hornyhead turbot
Fantail sole
Pypmy poacher
Diamond turbot
Shovelnose guitarfish
Basketweave cusk-eel
Bay goby
Shortspine combfish
California halibut
Pacific angel shark
Slender sole
Striped kelpfish
Cov rockfish
Spotfin surfperch
Pacific staghorn sculpin
Swell shark
Bluespotted poacher
Cabezon
Thornback
California lizardfish
Grass rockfish
Vermilion rockfish
Spiny poacher
Spotted turbot
Barred surfperch
Flag rockfish
Kelp bass
Celico rockfish
Sand sole
Pricklebreaat poacher
Tube-snout
Sarcastic fringehead
Leopard ahark
Bothidae
Scorpnenitlae
r.mbiotocidae
Bothidae
Batrachoidlclae
Pleuronectidae
Sciaenidae
Sciaenidae
Zaniolepidae
Cottidae
Embiotocidae
Bothidae
Cynoglossidae
Embiotocidae
Embiotocidae
Embiotocidae
Syngnathidae
Embiotocidae
Pleuronectidae
Pleuronectidae
Embiotocidae
Bothidae
Bathrachoidi dae
Cliniclae
Pleuronectidae
Scorpaenidae
Pleuronectidae
Bothidae
Agonidae
Pleuronectidae
Rhinobatidae
Ophidiidae
Gobiidae
Zaniolepidae
Bothidae
Squatinidae
Pleuronectidae
Clinidae
S corpaeni dae
Embiotocidae
Cottidae
Scyliorhinidae
Agonidae
Cottidae
Rhinobata dae
Synodontidae
Scorpaenidae
Scorpaenidae
Agonidae
Pleuronectidae
En.biotocidae
Scorpaenidae
Serranidae
Scorpaenidae
Pleuronectidae
Agonidae
Aulorhynchidae
Clinidae
Carcharhinidae
Captures
1U21
615
478
410
295
232
201
190
177
163
139
117
112
58
53
39
25
21
21
20
18
17
15
11
10
10
9
9
8
8
8
8
7
7
7
6
6
6
5
5
5
5
5
5
U
k
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
67
-------
Sp_ecies__
Appendix II. (Continued)
Common Name
Family
Agonopsis sterletus
~
Paralabrax nebulifer
jtenticirrhus .undulatus
Artedius narrinQtoni
Ulvicola sanctaerosae
^ebastodes chlgrost ictus
PhjLnerqdon atripes
Torpedo calif ornj.ca
Itype'rprosopon ellipticum
(U bbo_nsia elegans
Apodichthys flavidus
HijDpoqlossus stenolepis
Kind
Southern spearnose poacher
Spotted cuak-eel
Sand bass
California corbina
Scolyhead sculpin
Kelp gunnel
Greenspotted rockfish
Sharpnose seaperch
Pacific electric ray
Silver surfperch
Spotted kelpfish
Penpoint gunnel
Pacific halibut
INVERTEBRATES
_^ Captures Kind
Aeonldae
Ophidiidae
Serranidae
Sciaenidae
Cottidae
Pholidae
Scorpaenidae
Qnbiotocidae
Toipedinidae
Embiotocidae
Cllnldae
Pholidae
Pleurone cti dae
Captures
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Captures
Stichogus (sea cucumber) 1930
Eusicyonia ingentis (deep seasquirt) 831
Astropecten (starfish) 305
Sea urchins (Numerous)
Brittle stars (Numerous)
Grange 2U2
Cancer crabs 106
Other crabs 91
Kelletia (kelp whelk) 7
Pateria (starfish) 2
Gorgonians (not compiled)
Luidia (starfish)
Lpxorhypchus (spider crab) (Not compiled)
Pugettia (kelp crab) " "
Styatula (sea pen) " "
Octopus " "
Pleurobranchia (tectibranch) " "
Clams " "
Hermit crabs " "
Dendraster (sand dollar) " "
Nudibranchs " "
(Several other shrimps, etc., including the myaid
shrimps of the kelp canopy " "
68
-------
1
5
-4 i- 1- f .sj>i
------- |