Update 11-8-2007 (morning)

As I write this early Thursday morning, I have no indication that the East Bay shore has been affected yesterday's oil spill. (Roughly 50,000 gallons of bunker fuel went loose in the Bay when a container ship hit the Bay Bridge west of Yerba Buena Island.) Tides were taking the fuel out the Golden Gate yesterday, closing beaches along that shoreline. Those tides will have brought some of the oil back in overnight. I will be out taking a beach walk with a camera this morning. If you can do the same over the next few days, it probably would be a good idea.

If you see oil on the Bay shore, probably the best place to report it is the California Department of Fish and Game Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR); their 24 hour hotline is 888-334-2258.

If you see a single oiled bird, Lindsay Wildlife Museum has a "drop-off station" at Montclair Veterinary Clinic & Hospital, 1961 Mountain Blvd., Oakland, (510) 339-8600 (call first to check this). If you see evidence of oil affecting multiple birds, try International Bird Rescue Research Center, Cordelia, Solano Co. (707) 207-0380, ext. 110 (hospital extension) or Wildcare, San Rafael, (415) 456-SAVE (7283). For oil affecting marine mammals, call the Marine Mammal Center, (415) 289-SEAL.

Please also let me know. Again, I have no evidence that this is any kind of crisis; this is a just-in-case email. If there are effects, photos with records of where and when they were taken may be very useful.

Thanks!