The Cosco Busan container ship that hit the Bay Bridge leaked at least 58,000 gallons of oil into the Bay Area. The oil is fouling nearly all the beaches in the Bay Area, and untold numbers of birds have been covered with oil.
Please stay off Bay Area beaches for at least the next few days. You don't want to compact any oil into the sand by walking over it. The oil is toxic, and you don't want to get any of it on you or your dog.
If you see an oil-covered bird or mammal, DO NOT TOUCH IT. Call 877-823-6926
That's the number for the Oiled Wildlife Care Network
http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/owcn/
You need special training to help these animals, and OWCN has that special training. Their website has info on their need for volunteers.
If you see an oiled bird or mammal, make sure your dog does not approach it. The
bird or animal will be highly stressed. Plus the oil is toxic to anything or anyone
who touches it.
To report a new oil sighting, call 985-781-0804
For general info on the oil spill and clean-up:
http://www.uscgsanfrancisco.com/go/site/823/
Info on the oil spill can be found under "Recent Updates" on the left of the website.
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From the GGNRA website http://www.nps.gov/goga/
"Due to the November 7 oil spill as a result of the ship Cosco Busan's
allision with the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the following areas in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area are closed until further notice: Fort Point, Crissy Field Beach (the Promenade remains open), Baker Beach, China Beach, Rodeo Beach, Tennesse Valley Beach, the beach and boat ramp at Fort Baker and Kirby Cove. As of Friday morning Muir Beach is also closed. Except for the Agave Trail area Alcatraz Island remains open to public."
Note: Fort Funston beach was closed Friday, 11/9, afternoon.
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Informational Sessions on Wildlife Care
SAN FRANCISO - The Department of Fish and Games Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR), in cooperation with the Headlands Institute, the Harbor Master at Richmond Marina and the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium will be offering informational classes on Nov. 10 to the public.
The two-hour classes, "Informational Sessions on Wildlife Care", are designed to inform the public on the activities of OSPR, the Oiled Wildlife Network (OWCN) and the International Bird Rescue and Recovery Council (IBRRC) in response to wildlife impacts in the M/V Cosco Busan Incident.
Topics that will be covered in each of the three classes will be:
- What is OSPR and why was it formed
- How cleanup is conducted
- How are wildlife recovery and rehabilitation addressed
- How can the public get trained if they want to become more involved
- What areas and activities should the public avoid during the cleanup
- How can the public report wildlife impacts to trained response staff
The locations of the classes are as follows:
- Headlands Institute, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Building 1033, Sausalito, CA 94965 Tele: 415.332.5771
http://www.yni.org/hi/conference/location/index.php
Class time: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- Harbor Master Richmond Marina, 1340 Marina Way South, Richmond, CA 94804 Tele:
510.236.1013 Class time: 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 99 Grove Street, San Francisco, CA Tele: 415.974.4060. Class time: 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
The classes are designed not be a community forum for other questions surrounding this incident. It will only be an opportunity for the public to learn about wildlife care during an event and how the public may want to be more involved.
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The SF Surfrider Foundation is organizing some volunteer works:
http://zunasurf.wordpress.com/
They'll be at Ocean Beach on Saturday
8:00 am - Meet at great highway and Noriega.
10:00am - Meet at great highway and Taraval.
Noon - TBD
Please bring gloves and heavy duty bags if you have them.
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From the US Coast Guard website http://www.uscgsanfrancisco.com/go/site/823
"When a disaster occurs, people want to help. Often, this is exactly what
is needed in a crisis. However, sometimes the presence of untrained people, however
well-meaning, really does not help, and it can even make things worse. This is especially true in the case of an oil spill.
A barge runs aground on a beach, a ship slams into a bridge and suddenly oil pours
into the water and on the shore. Depending on many factors like the type of oil
and the weather, many things can happen next.
If waterfowl come in contact with the heavier oils, their feathers become coated
in oil, and they cannot keep warm or stay afloat. They cannot swim, so they hide
on the shore. These vulnerable birds panic when approached by people, and their
attempts to flee can result in physical injury.
Bottom-dwelling creatures -- flounder, lobsters, clams, sea stars -- can die from
ingesting oil. They wash up onto the shore or roll out to sea with the tide. Beach
sands and tidal flats can absorb the oil, and the tiny creatures living in them
die from ingestion or lack of air. Every human footstep further compacts the ground, forcing air out of the sediment and driving the oil deeper, harming more of the tiny creatures’ habitat.
In any case, an oil spill emergency is no place for onlookers. Everyone wants to
help, but not everyone can. Untrained people can actually harm the natural resources they want to help and may even harm themselves while trying, through exposure to the oil and its toxic fumes.
Crowds of people at a spill site divert the attention of law enforcement personnel,
adding to the drain on emergency resources and confusion at the site. Wildlife or
anything oiled may present a serious human health risk and should only be handled
by trained experts."
