The Seabird Trials (How a Scientist Took Big Oil to Court and Won)

Through lyrical storytelling and vivid science writing, The Seabird Trials reveals the fragility and wonder of seabird life, the great cost of oil dependence and—at a time when scientists are increasingly questioned and silenced—the enduring importance of evidence and truth.

The 1986 Apex Houston oil spill near San Francisco was one of the deadliest for seabirds along the California coast, killing nearly 10,000 birds. The ensuing court case was a David and Goliath legal battle that set conservation against big oil, and two seabird biologists were called as expert witnesses on opposite sides of the fight. The court battle exposed the weapons of international corporate warfare: targeting vulnerabilities, manufacturing doubt, spinning false narratives of mitigation and, perhaps most insidiously, using a scientist's love of the natural world to undermine his credibility. But ornithologist Harry Carter and US prosecutor Valerie Lee prevailed, securing a landmark settlement that established an important precedent for compensating the destruction of wildlife and helped pave the way for much larger environmental damage claims arising from subsequent oil spills, including the Exxon Valdez disaster. The settlement also launched a remarkable twenty-five-year experiment to encourage seabirds to return to their home nesting colony. 

But The Seabird Trials is also a story of the birds themselves and the scientists who devote their lives to understanding them. Through vivid accounts of fieldwork and scientific discovery, readers enter the remarkable world of seabirds—their lives at sea, their enduring bonds with their nesting colonies, and their extraordinary vulnerability to human disturbance. These encounters reveal not only the wonder and complexity of seabird life, but also the deep emotional commitment of the people who study and protect them.

Weaving together intimate portraits of seabird life, the discoveries and challenges of field science, and the fierce contest over scientific evidence in the courtroom, The Seabird Trials illuminates the vital role seabirds play as early indicators of oil spills and climate change. This compelling account explores the intersection of science, corporate power, and the law, revealing how a devastating environmental tragedy gave rise to a pioneering victory for wildlife conservation.