The obstacles standing in the way of the job were intimidating. Animals living in the nearby forests and roam onto the tidelands in search of food. Mink, land otters and bears could be harmed. There are similar fears for bald eagles, another scavenger. The eagles have already begun preying upon the seabirds killed or injured by oil. Scientists knew that the 11 million gallons of oil that had spilled into the Sound was likely to kill thousands of birds and probably hundreds of marine mammals. But what they didn't know is what it would do to the microorganisms, the invertebrates and the fish that make up more than the vast majority of life there. What will become of the portions of the crude oil that are dissolved in the water is harder to predict. Where these chemicals concentrate, they would devastate the existing ecosystems, scientists said. But where they are diluted, the problems lessen.

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