News Life

Sun-oil mix deadly for young herring

Fish embryos surprisingly vulnerable to 2007 spill

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

A lethal combination of oil and sunlight proved unexpectedly toxic to herring embryos after a 2007 fuel spill in San Francisco Bay, virtually disintegrating the developing fish in the water.

ROE WOE Healthy embryos of herring (left) show pairs of eyespots in otherwise clear bodies. Embryos stuck in water contaminated with bunker oil and exposed to sunlight, however, look cloudily dead, with tearing tissues and no eyespots.