Environmental Implications of a Massive Oil Spill and

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beaches during their release cycle. During the Norwuz spill, there was
some turtle morLality on the islands, but, fortunately, this was small
because they tended to make their nesting sites on the southern half of the
islands and are therefore somewhat sheltered from oil coming from the
north.

Oiling studies indicate that oil irritates the turtle's mucus membranes, a
condition which can result in lesions. Since they are vegetarians, they are
less likely to biomagnify hydrocarbons or their metabolites.

The Hawksbill turtle is also a Gulf resident and may be an endangered
species. It also uses island breeding sites. It is common, but less abundant
than the green turtle. It is also smaller and carnivorous, feeding on pelagic
animals. It makes shallower nests than the green turtle, and nests mainly
April-July.

There are a few species of seabirds that occur only in this area, some of
which breed in the winter season, and others that migrate through or feed
in the area. There have been incidents of large numbers of oiled seabirds
during past spills in the region. Birds have been impacted both by direct
oiling and by oil contamination of their food supply. Although
information on bird populations in the area is not good, there have been
other significant impacts on some species by the local practice of egg
collection for food. A massive oil spill could result in significant impacts
to local populations of wide-ranging species. Species that reside only in
this area may have their total populations seve~rely redflce~d. The coastline
serves as a migratory route for other species which may be impacted by
oiling of the coastline.

There have been apparently minor impacts to fisheries~of past spills.
Shrimp are targets of one of the most important fisheries in the
northwestern Gulf. Shrimp grounds occur off northern Saudi Arabia, and
are subject to harvest by foreign industrial trawlers. Mter reaching peak
landings in 1967-68 (17,000 tons), landings declined into the mid-1980s
(9,000 tons). Regional authorities recommended seasonal closure from
February through June but such closures may not have been implemented.
Recruitment of shrimp increased in 1982-83, but other information
suggests overall recruitment has been declining in the 1980's due to
environmental degradation, land reclamation in former nursery areas and
reduced rate of flow of Shatt Al-Arab waterway. Juvenile shrimp, which
presumably occur in eelgrass and inshore in heavily vegetated areas, are


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