Critter Geek

I’ve created a Flickr group, Cosco Oil Spill – San Francisco Bay, November 2007 , to collect photos documenting what’s happening related to the spill. Please DO post your photos of affected areas and wildlife. Photo documentation is often found to be useful in unexpected ways later.

www.flickr.com More photos in Cosco Oil Spill – San Francisco Bay, November 2007

And thanks to Jill at Golden Gate Raptor Observatory for letting me post her very helpful email message below. Please note that actual closures will be changing as the situation evolves!

Hello everyone,

I am sure a lot of you are feeling as depressed and helpless as we are here at the GGRO about the oil spill in the Bay. It seems as though untrained volunteers are not able to help at this point in the cleanup due to the high toxicity of the fuel oil. I have compiled several emails that I will paste in below, detailing some things you can do to help. It is best to stay away from beaches and let the trained response teams do their jobs unhindered. Refrain from picking up oiled birds, instead call the number below to report them. NOAA is also calling for documentation of oiled locations (aside from the known impacts, see below) – if you are out at north/south/east bay beaches and see oiled rocks, birds, vegetation – take photos, carefully note the location, and send it to the NOAA contacts below.

I am hoping that they will set up volunteer trainings so that people who want to help can learn how to safely do so, but so far have not heard of anything planned. We will get the word out as further informationbecomes available.
Jill

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HOW YOU CAN HELP:

(From Oiled Wildlife Care Network, www.owcn.org)
Calls from the general public wanting to volunteer outnumbered bird reports yesterday by about 5-1. Volunteer opportunities for untrained members of the public are going to be very limited over the next few days but here’s a critical one: please make a special effort to look for oiled birds in places where the general public doesn’t go. Don’t approach or touch the birds but call 877-823-6926 and provide the location (be very specific, GPS coordinates are great), the species, number of birds seen, whether dead or alive, and percentage of oiling. Please leave your name and a contact phone number. The sooner, the better. The faster we can get these birds stabilized and washed, the higher their chances of recovery and survival.

Under no circumstances should people touch or approach an oiled animal unless they have HAZWOPER training and are properly equipped. If you see someone doing this, please remind them that this is toxic material.

(From Save the Bay) Our contacts at NOAA and other agencies are working to gather any damage information people are seeing on the ground- and get any info documented with photos and video. They are concerned about oyster and eelgrass impacts in addition to other fish and wildlife impacts. Please contact Natalie Cosentino-Manning at the NOAA Restoration Center if you have information or pictures- Natalie.c-manning *at* noaa.gov, please cc mlatta *at* savesfbay.org. The lead agency for spill response is CA Dept of Fish and Game- Oil Spill Prevention and Response.

(From the NPS) This is a follow-up e-mail regarding the status of the oil spill which was a result of outbound container ship COSCO BUSAN. Please be advised that the Unified Incident Command Group is still in the process of assessing and monitoring the spill. To protect the health and safety of visitors and park staff, the temporary closures at Fort Point, Crissy Field Beach, China Beach, Baker Beach and Kirby Cove are still in place. Although not included in the last update, Rodeo Beach was closed yesterday afternoon and remains closed. As of 7:00 a.m., November 8, 2007 Tennesse Valley Beach became closed temporarily due to oil contamination. The temporary closures will remain in effect until the extent of the contamination and health risks have been assessed. The Crissy Field Promenade is considered open and safe for recreation but the beach itself remains closed. The Unified Incident Command Group led by the US Coast Guard is managing the response to the incident. Please refer all public information calls to 510-772-8865.

Jill Harley Research
Assistant/Office Manager
Golden Gate Raptor Observatory