After the Spill

By Linda Hunter, Executive Director

Cleaning the beach. Credt: Jamie Hall

One week ago, on November 7th, the Cosco Busan, a large container ship bound for South Korea, crashed into the base of the Bay Bridge, spilling 58,000 gallons of heavy-duty bunker fuel oil into the San Francisco Bay. Quickly, the oil spread across the Bay, under the Golden Gate Bridge and out into the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, one of the most extraordinary and environmentally sensitive areas in the world.

From Day 1, our staff and Beach Watch volunteers have worked round the clock to provide information on natural resources status and distribution to Incident Command. Many of our volunteers are trained to work with hazardous materials and these folks continue to survey beaches and oiled wildlife, assist with the rescue effort as well as collect dead seabirds and tar balls as evidence.

The important data collected by the Farallones Association's programs is making a critical contribution by monitoring beaches and rocky shores to assess the impact of the spill on these fragile areas.

In the wake of the heartbreaking oil spill last Wednesday, we have been asked: Why is collecting data and monitoring programs like Beach Watch so critical during an oil spill?

I’ll give you an example: In 1989, when the Exxon Valdez spilled eleven million gallons of oil in Prince William Sound, Alaska, the oil company returned a year later and claimed "The environment in Prince William Sound is healthy, robust and thriving.”

This was news to the people who live there but there was no dataset that would have shown what the natives knew to be true – that the Exxon Valdez oil spill’s effects are lasting far longer than expected and that shoreline habitats and wildlife may take decades to recover.

That’s why monitoring programs such as Beach Watch are so important.

Normally, Beach Watch volunteers survey “their” beaches every two to four weeks along the central California coast between Bodega Head in Sonoma County and Año Nuevo State Reserve on the San Mateo/Santa Cruz county line. Survey methods along each beach segment include: live bird and marine mammal enumeration, visitor/dog activity notation, dead vertebrate documentation, general wrack and invertebrate assessment, oil/tarball documentation, and streams and lagoons status.

After last week’s spill, Beach Watch volunteers were notified through an emergency phone-tree.  They have been conducting wildlife reconnaissance surveys on beaches spanning the Sanctuary each day at dawn. Not only did Beach Watch volunteers record data on dead and alive wildlife, but they also collected dead oiled animals to reduce the risk of scavengers becoming oiled and to be used as evidence. (hence, the morgue in our garage)

The stories from our volunteers on the front lines are inspiring and at times, heartbreaking.

As of this morning, 804 live birds have been received at the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (of which 244 have been washed), 590 have died. Most of these have been Surf Scoters and Grebes, although many other species have been oiled or killed.

We won’t know the full extent of the seabird mortality for some time. The birds captured on the shoreline and taken to the Oiled Wildlife Care Network for treatment and the numbers of dead birds brought to the morgue here at Crissy Field or at Incident Command represent just a fraction of the number of birds who have died. Many birds die at sea and their bodies sink to the ocean floor. Computer modeling and continued monitoring by Beach Watch volunteers will allow researchers to gauge more accurately the number of birds affected in the future.

“While it was rewarding to bring in live birds to the Network for rehabilitation, it was quite depressing to see the birds still out in the water, completely oil-soaked, preening their feathers – knowing that the birds would eventually beach themselves and probably die," said Miriam Gordon, Volunteer.

“One of the birds that we recovered was so thick with oil, we couldn’t tell if it was dead or alive," said a Beach Watch volunteer. "Then we saw its eye move slightly.”

The good news is that because of the resolve and hard work of staff and volunteers, a good many of the birds rescued will be rehabilitated and released.

For all the folks who would like to be prepared for the next oil spill, please contact our volunteer office: jmohr@farallones.org   We will keep you apprised of future trainings in dealing with hazardous substances and the upcoming Spring Beach Watch volunteer training. Sadly, it’s not a matter of “if” an oil spill will once again strike our coastline but “when”.

Our Beach Watch Program depends on your generous donation. Please click here to assist with our rescue efforts.