USDA National Wildlife Research Center Symposia
Date of this Version
August 1995
Abstract
A wide range of techniques are available for deterring birds from coastal oil spills, including (but not limited to) pyrotechnics, aircraft, boats, flags, reflecting devices, and artificial sounds. Many of these deterrent devices have had little field testing to determine optimal deterrent strategies. The Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC) developed a research and development (R&D) plan which has identified critical research which would need to be conducted to determine these optimal strategies. This program was initiated through the generation of a report which described the state-of-the-art of deterring birds from marine oil spills. Following this report, MSRC hosted a workshop consisting of deterrent experts and practitioners from the private and public sectors. This panel determined priority areas of marine oil spill bird deterrent R&D. A group consisting of research personnel from government and industry are currently involved in implementing a high-priority R&D project as identified by the deterrent workshop panel. The present paper describes these research efforts.